The scandal of SpongeBob SquarePants

I always thought the people who run Focus on the Family were really nutcases. Their latest public awareness campaign involves an attack on a video remake of the Sister Sledge hit "We are Family," starring SpongeBob SquarePants. Their complaint? SpongeBob SquarePants is gay. Their proof? He occasionally holds hands with his best friend Patrick, a pink starfish. Oh, and he goes Mrs. Puff's boating school. Get it? Puff. How suspicious is that?

"We see the video as an insidious means by which the organisation is manipulating and potentially brainwashing kids."

It is true, perhaps, that the show has a huge gay following. SpongeBob may be "kind of special", but he was not designed to be a gay character, his creator Stephen Hillenburg has told the Wall Street Journal.

The gay community likes the show because it has a tolerant attitude, Mr Hillenburg said.

"Everybody is different, and the show embraces that. The character SpongeBob is an oddball. He's kind of weird, but he's kind of special," he said.

Another news report here.

Happy birthday!

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