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Things We Saw Today: Steven Universe’s Rebecca Sugar Comes Out as Non-binary, Explains the Importance of NB Identity Within the World of the Show

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We’re in love with Steven Universe for a lot of reasons, not the least of which has long been the show’s empathetic depiction of queer love and identity. In a recent interview with NPR, the show’s creator, Rebecca Sugar, came out as a non-binary woman. She explained how important it was to be able to express her sense of identity through the show, as well as to present a depiction of gender identity that we rarely, if ever, get to see on television, let alone in children’s show.

“One of the things that’s really important to me about the show is that the Gems are all non-binary women. They’re very specific and they’re coming from a world where they don’t really have the frame of reference. They’re coded female which is very important. I was really excited because I felt like I had not seen this. To make a show about a young boy who was looking up to these female-coded characters—they appear to be female, but they’re a little more representative of nonbinary women.

They wouldn’t think of themselves as women, but they’re fine with being interpreted that way amongst humans. And I am also a non-binary woman which is been really great to express myself through these characters because it’s very much how I have felt throughout my life.”

(via i09)

Whew, that was a lot of links for one day. And we didn’t even talk about how the world is burning down all around us, politically speaking! Anyway, hope your week is off to a great start!

(image: Cartoon Network)

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Vivian Kane
Vivian Kane (she/her) is the Senior News Editor at The Mary Sue, where she's been writing about politics and entertainment (and all the ways in which the two overlap) since the dark days of late 2016. Born in San Francisco and radicalized in Los Angeles, she now lives in Kansas City, Missouri, where she gets to put her MFA to use covering the local theatre scene. She is the co-owner of The Pitch, Kansas City’s alt news and culture magazine, alongside her husband, Brock Wilbur, with whom she also shares many cats.

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