History Main / DiscountLesbians

* In the third season of ''Series/ChillingAdventuresOfSabrina'', aunt Zelda enters a relationship with voodoo witch Mambo Marie. In the fourth season, it's revealed that [[spoiler: Mambo Marie is actualy Baron Samdi, the male loa of death.]]

* Tina Greer of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' is a shapeshifting PsychoLesbian obsessed with Lana. However, her every romantic interaction with Lana is while she's in the form of a male. She invokes it because she knows Lana is straight.
* Male-presenting example: In the antepenultimate episode of ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'', Castiel finally confesses to Dean Winchester that he loves him before making a HeroicSacrifice. However, being an angel, Castiel is actually a non-binary energy being possessing a human body that happens to be male, and has used female bodies in the past as well.

* In Film/ThorLoveAndThunder, Korg's species is now implied to be all-male with Korg himself [[spoiler: having a child with a male Kronan called Dwayne.]]

* In the ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]], Seiya Kou is an {{human alien|s}} lesbian who cross-dresses in civilian form and is in love with Usagi. [[Anime/SailorMoon The original anime]] significantly expands on her role, but turns this into an [[InvertedTrope inversion]] [[HideYourLesbians as a form of censorship]]: Seiya isn't just a crossdresser but a SexShifter, whose female form is treated as unequivocally as her real self, yet her romantic scenes with Usagi only occur while she's in male form.

* ''VideoGame/LeagueOfLegends'': Oovi-Kat Neeko flirts with women and finds men unpleasant. But she is also a shapeshifting lizard-human hybrid who intermingles her spiritual energy with other beings and views gender as an odd and foreign social construct. Her distaste for men is mostly because they spend less time on personal hygiene, and she is perfectly content with [[{{Bishounen}} "pretty" men]] like Ezreal.

* ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'': Jet is never stated to be bi on the show, despite it being indirectly confirmed via WordOfGay. Due to not being a human, however, it can be hard to say if his sexuality can be categorized at all, although he's definitely shown attraction to multiple genders.

* The protagonist of ''Manga/KashimashiGirlMeetsGirl'' is Hazumu, whose is [[GenderBender transformed from male to female]] and becomes the center of a three-girl LoveTriangle (and is the crush of an alien SpaceshipGirl).\\
Although [[SecondLawOfGenderBending Hazumu completely identifies as female afterward]], she's the only girl unambiguously attractive to and generally attracted to other girls: Yasuna's romance with her may have been based on [[ChildhoodFriendRomance knowing Hazumu since long before the change]], while Yasuna [[SituationalSexuality has some rather contrived circumstances preventing any romance with boys]].

* In ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'', Willow's MirrorUniverse duplicate is a LesbianVampire. But then it's averted a few seasons later when Willow herself comes out and has to deal head-on with all the issues of sexuality and society. PlayedWith in that, when Willow is freaking out about how evil and slutty and "kinda gay" her vampire self is, Giles notes that vampires are possessed by demons, and their personalities have nothing to do with the person they were. Angel (a vampire himself) starts to chime in "Actually," gets a DeathGlare, and finishes [[VerbalBackspace "that's a really good point."]] Presumably, Angel (who should know the most about vampire psychology) was about to point out that some personality traits do survive, cleverly foreshadowing Willow's own coming out two seasons later.

* ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'': Shinji and Kaworu have a deeply homoerotic relationship, and the manga is quite explicit that Shinji was in love with Kaworu. However, Kaworu isn't exactly human, [[spoiler:bearing the soul of Adam]].
* In ''Anime/{{Simoun}}'', everyone is born female, only choosing a permanent gender at the age of 17. This automatically puts all teenage characters into the lesbian zone. However, while people usually end up the opposite of their lover's permanent sex, we see some couples that stay together as women and even one that knew each other as teens and hook up after both becoming ''men''.
* Humanity in ''Anime/{{Vandread}}'' has been segregated into two different races, where Majerans (women) form romantic bonds and two-parent families for their daughters. The men of Tarak are mentioned to raise (test-tube grown) sons together, but without any implications of romance.

* ''Alien from the Darkness'' has Flair, who spends most of the story seducing the all-female crew of the ''Zogne''. While she qualifies due to being possessed by a tentacle-raping alien in search of [[MarsNeedsWomen breeding stock]], the sex scenes Flair isn't involved in prove that the {{hentai}} has no problem with [[CastFullOfGay actual lesbians]] either.

* In the ''Franchise/SailorMoon'' [[Manga/SailorMoon manga]], Seiya Kou is an {{human alien|s}} lesbian who cross-dresses in civilian form and is in love with Usagi. [[Anime/SailorMoon The original anime]] significantly expands on her role, but turns this into an [[InvertedTrope inversion]] [[HideYourLesbians as a form of censorship]]: Seiya isn't just a crossdresser but a SexShifter, whose female form is treated as unequivocally as her real self, yet her romantic scenes with Usagi only occur while she's in male form.
* In ''Manga/LandOfTheLustrous'' the Gems are literally made of their gemstones and have NoBiologicalSex, but present as more male or more female to the audience depending on the specific stone and use gender neutral language to refer to themselves. Phos is initially confused by the Admirabilis' sexual dimorphism, suggesting they themselves have no such thing. While the gems all refer to themselves as siblings, Diamond thinks Cinnabar has a crush on Phos. Rutile also has an unhealthy obsession with Padparadscha. As of the Moon Arc, [[spoiler:Cairngorm and Aechmea]] are in an InterspeciesRomance and [[spoiler:Cairngorm]] expresses themselves in more feminine ways as a result.

Although [[SecondLawOfGenderBending Hazumu completely identifies as female afterward]] ([[AmbiguousGenderIdentity and may have been transgender to begin with]]), she's the only girl unambiguously attractive to and generally attracted to other girls: Yasuna's romance with her may have been based on [[ChildhoodFriendRomance knowing Hazumu since long before the change]], while Yasuna [[SituationalSexuality has some rather contrived circumstances preventing any romance with boys]].
* Most of the romantic and sexual situations in ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'' are between two females, but they nearly always involve Matsuri, [[GenderBender who was originally male]] (and still considers himself a guy, [[ThirdLawOfGenderBending despite being rather visibly feminine]]). His primary love interest Suzu is [[AmbiguouslyBi likely bisexual]], but only shows interest in Matsuri and fell in love beforehand. However, Reo is explicitly bisexual and even hits on Suzu once.

* Shatterstar of ''ComicBook/XForce'' fits this, depending on which origin story you believe.
* Aleksin and Pavol, from the ''ComicBook/StarWarsLando'' mini-series, are a male couple trying to raise enough funds to get a cloned child to call their own. They also happen to be [[CatFolk panther-headed humanoid aliens]].

* Most [[MisterSeahorse MPreg]] fanfic is the male side of this trope - basically, one of the gay men is from a species where it is normal for males to get pregnant, by other males, no less. A similar concept can be found in Omegaverse fic, though expanded to all parties involved.

* The Neil Gaiman short story "Literature/MurderMysteries" actually has a GenderFlipped version - discount gay men. The characters in the main part of the story are angels, sexless and genderless, though they do generally take the form of human males. The angels who discover love end up as lovers, which means while there isn't any distinctive action, there's a lot of cuddling. It was also adapted as a RadioDrama and GraphicNovel.
* Creator/UrsulaKLeGuin's ''Literature/TheLeftHandOfDarkness'', dealing with a planet of people who are asexual hermaphrodites until they enter heat, at which point they can assume either set of genitals, is sometimes confused for this. It's not, for two reasons: first, the issues raised by this setup are the entire point of the novel, so there's nothing discounted about it; and second, the characters are not presented as substitutes for gays.

* ''Franchise/StarTrek'':
** An episode of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'', "The Host", features an alien (Trill) ambassador, Odan, who has a fling with Dr. Crusher and then dies, having his personality and memories transplanted into a new (female) body thanks to BizarreAlienBiology. The trope is averted in that Crusher makes it clear that she cannot continue their relationship now. The episode was accused of UnfortunateImplications, because Crusher ''had'' considered the idea of continuing the relationship when Odan was temporarily placed into the body of Commander Riker, even though he was never intended to be a permanent host and there would have been questions regarding consent. Crusher was initially very excited that a new Trill host for Odan had come, until she discovered that it was a woman.
** ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'' tried to do this in a more sensitive manner than TNG had in the "The Host". In "Rejoined", Jadzia Dax meets Lenara Kahn, one of whose symbiont's previous hosts was married to one of the Dax symbiont's own previous hosts. The trope is applied in that it is really Dax and Kahn, the symbionts, who have romantic feelings for each other, rather than Jadzia and Lenara. Also, the Trill have a taboo against symbionts resuming romantic relationships carried over from past hosts (a retcon from their introduction in TNG) and thus this was a single-episode story that is never pursued further. This was intended as an [[GayAesop allegory for homophobia]]. Jadzia would go on to marry Worf.
** The MirrorUniverse version of Kira Nerys is a DepravedBisexual with more [[EvilIsSexy evil kink]] than CharacterDevelopment; she's even made advances toward the regular universe version of [[ScrewYourself herself]] ... but [[WordOfSaintPaul according to]] Creator/NanaVisitor, that last one was more out of [[{{Narcissist}} narcissism]] than anything else. The mirror versions of Ezri and Leeta were also either bisexual or lesbians. The trope is [[DoubleStandard not really paralleled with male characters]], except for Garak, who was AmbiguouslyBi even in the prime universe.
** Both times an attraction between women was clearly depicted in ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'', it was because one of the women was mind-[[BodySnatcher controlled by a male entity]]: Kes, controlled by Tieran, tries to revive his relationship with Nori in "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS3E9Warlord Warlord]]," and Seven, controlled by an assimilated Klingon warrior, tries to assault B'Elanna in "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS5E7InfiniteRegress Infinite Regress]]."
** ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' specifically averted having a Discount Non-Binary character: Adira [[spoiler:is a human joined with a Trill symbiont, but [[WordOfSaintPaul Blu del Barrio has made it clear]] that Adira was non-binary to begin with, not because of being joined]].

* ''Series/{{Torchwood}}'':
** The evil sexually-manipulative bodysnatching alien Mary in the episode "Greeks Bearing Gifts" is a glaring example. Toshiko is at least on the borderline, given that Tosh is never seen to have a sexual interest in a woman before or afterwards and it's not made precisely clear whether her sexual relationship with Mary was bisexuality or mind-control.
** A straighter example is Gwen making out with a (female possessed by a) sex-gas alien in "Day One". Given that there are many same-sex relationships and WordOfGod states that everybody on the team is bi, this is more of a coincidence than actively invoking this trope.
* Tina Greer of ''Series/{{Smallville}}'' is a shapeshifting PsychoLesbian obsessed with Lana. However, her every romantic interaction with Lana is while she's in the form of a male. She invokes it because she knows Lana is straight.

* In ''Series/{{Alphas}}'', Nina mind-controls the straight (and also uncomfortable with physical contact) Rachel into kissing another woman in a club, to cause a distraction and also just ForTheEvulz.

* In the third season of ''Series/ChillingAdventuresOfSabrina'', aunt Zelda enters a relationship with voodoo witch Mambo Marie. In the fourth season, it's revealed that [[spoiler: Mambo Marie is actualy Baron Samdi, the male loa of death.]]

* The asari of ''Franchise/MassEffect'' are a classic example. An entire alien species of [[OneGenderRace mono-gendered]], universally hot [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe blue alien space babes]] who have relationships with each other, all genders of [[ExtremeOmnisexual almost every other sapient species]], and (potentially) with female [=PCs=], the gender aspect almost never shown to be an issue for interspecies relationships. A number of asari characters express bemusement at the whole concept of sexual orientation (though at the start of a romance with [=FemShep=], Liara will still have a minor freakout about being attracted to another woman who isn't her own species, despite the fact that both qualities are supposedly considered normal for an asari's romantic partner), and there are a few jokes about gender-based concepts not translating properly (for example, the asari consider the parent that didn't give birth the "father" in all cases, though their language doesn't have gendered pronouns for obvious reasons). ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' may have [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally been going to include]] same-sex options for the two human love interests, as suggested by DummiedOut audio files that suggest such a thing, but those files also have the ''very male'' Mark Meer ask Liara if she's OK with [[NarmCharm dating a woman]]. Finally averted in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', where two gay characters are introduced to the crew and a returning character is revealed as bisexual. Conversations with these characters and others suggest that sexuality is almost a non-issue by that time.[[note]]Though this seems to be a retcon; a relevant part in the Liara/female Shep romance is asking whereas its ''weird'' since they're both women, whose clarification on the former's part is the source of the perception of this being a discount lesbian scenario in the first place.[[/note]] By ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'', the [[AuthorsSavingThrow developers have repudiated their own use of this trope]]. Flirting with Cora Harper, a heterosexual woman, with a female PlayerCharacter has her say that she has been propositioned by asari many times in the past but just isn't into women, confirming that relationships between asari and females from other species do count as lesbian relationships from the perspective of the non-asari partner, and such a relationship will not be pursued if she is not attracted to females of her own species to begin with. Background chatter also explains that while the asari consider themselves genderless because they have nothing to compare to, some have developed pronoun preferences due to cultural exchange with non-asari species.
* ''VideoGame/GuildWars2'' has the sylvari, PlantPeople who don't reproduce sexually (they all grow in pods from the same mother tree), and to whom gender is completely irrelevant. They definitely ''have'' gender in that there are defined male and female sylvari, but it holds no biological relevance and is treated with roughly the same gravitas as one's hair or eye color; they find the focus other races place on gender roles more than a little bemusing. Likewise, WordOfGod states that gender simply does not factor into romantic attraction for sylvari. Caithe and Faolain, two significant female sylvari [=NPCs=], were lovers prior to the events of the story. That said, the game also features same-sex relationships between members of various other races, including a human lesbian couple among the main characters, to whom this does not apply.
* The vampire-ish Mystics in ''VideoGame/SagaFrontier'' have a natural "Charm" ability that can attract others, none moreso that Orlouge, ruler of the Mystics. He gives a [[BloodMagic blood transfusion]] to a human girl named Asellus, one of the protagonists, and she becomes a half-Mystic in turn. Because of his magical blood, Asellus is more or less a lesbian (or [[EveryoneIsBi vaguely bisexual]], and this same blood causes a human girl named Gina to fall in love with her. [[spoiler:She and Asellus have a sort-of-there MayflyDecemberRomance should Asellus choose to remain a [[WeAreAsMayflies half-Mystic]] in one ending, they become a couple (with Asellus toting an all-girl harem to boot) in the full Mystic ending, and in the ending where Asellus becomes human again, she marries a man.]]

* ''VideoGame/EternalEden'': Joelle is engaged to Lynette. When Downey expresses surprise/disgust at the fact that the two girls are romantically involved with each other, Joelle explains that fairies have NoBiologicalSex, so her relationship with Lynette don't count as being a lesbian relationship even if both look female.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'', Alternian society is [[EveryoneIsBi binormative]]. However, there are also gay and bisexual humans. Also, [[OurVampiresAreDifferent Kanaya]] is specifically only attracted to females, which is considered unusual but not extraordinary.
* Variation: In ''Webcomic/OneOverZero'', Terra the earthworm is introduced as a lesbian because Tailsteak wanted to include a female character who wasn't a viable romantic option for the guys. This is clarified by saying that earthworms are [[OneGenderRace hermaphrodites, but he's choosing to identify them all as female]], so they're all "lesbians". [[spoiler:The fact that she's not a "real" lesbian is the key to her being with the man she loves without rejecting the author.]]
* ''Webcomic/GunnerkriggCourt'': Shadow and Robot. Both are non-humans with NoBiologicalSex who use male pronouns and apparently identify as male. They were best friends first and later became a couple.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* Discussed and ultimately deconstructed in the ''WebVideo/{{Jimquisition}}'' video about the [[HeteronormativeCrusader homophobic]] [[GetBackInTheCloset backlash]] towards ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'' arguing that the "Liara doesn't count!" arguments are invalid because she's still coded as female even if the game considers her gender neutral. Comparing it to how a dildo is considered a genderless object, but it's still reasonable to assume a guy might not be straight if you saw him using one because it's still associated with the male genitalia it is modeled after.
[[/folder]]

* The asari of ''Franchise/MassEffect'' are a classic example. An entire alien species of [[OneGenderRace mono-gendered]], universally hot [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe blue alien space babes]] who have relationships with each other, all genders of [[ExtremeOmnisexual almost every other sapient species]], and (potentially) with female [=PCs=], the gender aspect almost never shown to be an issue for interspecies relationships. A number of asari characters express bemusement at the whole concept of sexual orientation (though at the start of a romance with [=FemShep=], Liara will still have a minor freakout about being attracted to another woman who isn't her own species, despite the fact that both qualities are supposedly considered normal for an asari's romantic partner), and there are a few jokes about gender-based concepts not translating properly (for example, the asari consider the parent that didn't give birth the "father" in all cases, though their language doesn't have gendered pronouns for obvious reasons). ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' may have [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally been going to include]] same-sex options for the two human love interests, as suggested by DummiedOut audio files that suggest such a thing, but those files also have the ''very male'' Mark Meer ask Liara if she's OK with [[NarmCharm dating a woman]]. Finally averted in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', where two gay characters are introduced to the crew and a returning character is revealed as bisexual. Conversations with these characters and others suggest that sexuality is almost a non-issue by that time.[[note]]Though this seems to be a retcon; a relevant part in the Liara/female Shep romance is asking whereas its ''weird'' since they're both women, whose clarification on the former's part is the source of the perception of this being a discount lesbian scenario in the first place.[[/note]] ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' takes things even further. In addition to having a crew that includes multiple sexual orientations, flirting with Cora Harper, a heterosexual woman, as a female PlayerCharacter gives InUniverse confirmation that a relationship between an asari and a female from another species ''does'' count as lesbianism....''from the perspective of the non-asari partner''. Additionally one line of dialogue reveals some Asari identify as male or non-binary, putting into question how mono-gendered they actually are.

[[quoteright:350:[[VideoGame/MassEffect2 https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/me2_romance.png]]]]

* ''WesternAnimation/SolarOpposites'': Korvo and Terry’s relationship is from first glance that of a gay couple but it was explained that as Shlorpians they technically have no gender and that they choose their genders they want to be perceived as in their lives.

* In ''Anime/{{Interstella5555}}'', a female couple consisting of two {{Green Skinned Space Babe}}s can be seen at the concert in the first segment.
* ''Franchise/SailorMoon'': Used as a form of censorship in the anime. Seiya Kou is in love with Usagi, but in the anime Seiya is an alien who presents as male outside of Senshi form and female within it and is blatantly shown shapeshifting from one form to another.
** This doesn't apply in the original manga, where she's simply (relatively speaking) a true alien lesbian who merely cross-dresses in civilian form.

* As the title character of ''Manga/RanmaOneHalf'' was originally a straight male who fell under a [[GenderBender curse to switch gender]] back and forth under different temperatures of water, all of her romantic interactions in girl form with her [[ItMakesSenseInContext three fiancées]] qualify for this trope.

[[folder: Web Original]]

-->-- '''[[https://www.engadget.com/2007-09-18-mass-effect-allows-lesbian-alien-sex-men-remain-vanilla.html Joystiq.com]]''' on ''VideoGame/MassEffect1''

** This doesn't apply in the original manga, where she's simply (relatively speaking) a true alien lesbian who cross-dresses in civilian form.

* Bortus and Klyden in ''Series/TheOrville'' count, as they are technically a same-sex couple since their species only has males,[[note]]For the most part[[/note]] and are [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Moclan]], not human.

->''"The same-sex love issue is by now well-tread territory for Creator/BioWare -- most fans know by now that Juhani from ''VideoGame/KnightsOfTheOldRepublic'' is a lesbian and ''VideoGame/JadeEmpire'' allowed same-sex romance for both genders. So why should it be different in ''VideoGame/{{Mass Effect|1}}''? Does [=BioWare=] think that their audience will clamor for girl-on-alien-girl action while recoiling from man-on-man love? And why is lesbian sex only OK if it involves another species?"''
-->-- '''[[https://www.engadget.com/2007-09-18-mass-effect-allows-lesbian-alien-sex-men-remain-vanilla.html Joystiq.com]]''' on ''VideoGame/{{Mass Effect|1}}''

Discount Lesbians (or Discount Gays, or Discount Bisexuals, etc.) are canon queer characters who ''appear'' to be male or female, but they're either aliens that don't define gender/sex the way humans do, they come from an OneGenderRace, they don't reproduce sexually, they're genderfluid shapeshifters, they're humans that have been magically or technologically altered in ways that affect their sexuality/gender, so romancing them [[LoopholeAbuse doesn't really "count" as gay]]. This usually seems to be a device used within the story that lets [[MostWritersAreMale the (presumed) audience]] watch [[GirlOnGirlIsHot two hot chicks making out]] without having to think about the associated real-world issues of homosexuality. On the other hand, the trope may come into play if the writer wishes to include a lesbian relationship in the story but is worried about MoralGuardians, thus becoming a way for a RuleAbidingRebel to make an attempt at GettingCrapPastTheRadar.

* The asari of ''Franchise/MassEffect'' are a classic example. An entire alien species of [[OneGenderRace mono-gendered]], universally hot [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe blue alien space babes]] who have relationships with each other, all genders of [[ExtremeOmnisexual almost every other sapient species]], and (potentially) with female [=PCs=], the gender aspect almost never shown to be an issue for interspecies relationships. A number of asari characters express bemusement at the whole concept of sexual orientation (though at the start of a romance with [=FemShep=], Liara will still have a minor freakout about being attracted to another woman who isn't her own species, despite the fact that both qualities are supposedly considered normal for an asari's romantic partner), and there are a few jokes about gender-based concepts not translating properly (for example, the asari consider the parent that didn't give birth the "father" in all cases, though their language doesn't have gendered pronouns for obvious reasons). ''VideoGame/MassEffect1'' may have [[WhatCouldHaveBeen originally been going to include]] same-sex options for the two human love interests, as suggested by DummiedOut audio files that suggest such a thing, but those files also have the ''very male'' Mark Meer ask Liara if she's OK with [[NarmCharm dating a woman]]. Finally averted in ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', where two gay characters are introduced to the crew and a returning character is revealed as bisexual. Conversations with these characters and others suggest that sexuality is almost a non-issue by that time.[[note]]Though this seems to be a retcon; a relevant part in the Liara/female Shep romance is asking whereas its ''weird'' since they're both women, whose clarification on the former's part is the source of the perception of this being a discount lesbian scenario in the first place.[[/note]] ''VideoGame/MassEffectAndromeda'' takes things even further. In addition to having a crew that includes multiple sexual orientations, flirting with Cora Harper, a heterosexual woman, as a female PlayerCharacter gives InUniverse confirmation that a relationship between an asari and a female from another species ''does'' count as lesbianism....''from the perspective of the non-asari partner''.

* The Gems in ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' are a OneGenderRace of [[StarfishAliens sapient rocks]] with NoBiologicalSex [[NonHumanNonBinary or self-identified gender]] that use forms that look like human women. Some still hold romantic feelings of attraction to each other and, in a few rare cases, humans of either sex. However, no one suggests gems are different than human women in terms of sexuality in either direction--[[FantasticallyIndifferent humans tend not to realize or care that gems are aliens]]. When Pearl falls for a human woman who seems to return her interest, the implication is clearly that both are attracted to women. Gems being sexless isn't even stated in the show, just implied by their BizarreAlienReproduction. There's also Peridot, whose revulsion at the prospect of [[RomanticFusion engaging in fusion]] has been stated by WordOfGod to be representative of asexuality and aromanticism without bringing actual relationships into the mix.

* Wing and Wong in ''WesternAnimation/KungFuPandaThePawsOfDestiny'' are both gay, but they're also both warthogs, which might be why social media and news took absolutely no interest in reporting that a popular children's franchise has a gay couple one way or the other.