The latest episode of the animated series "Clarence" subtitled "Neighborhood Grill" showed the first gay characters featured by Cartoon Network since the channel was launched on Oct. 1, 1992, according to Huffington Post.
However, the characters did not appear without censorship.
Created by Skyler Page, "Clarence" is about an optimistic young boy named Clarence voiced by Page himself and his two best friends, Jeff, voiced by Sean Giambrone, and Sumo, voiced by Tom Kenny.
In the "Neighborhood Grill "episode Clarence's teacher, Miss Baker, was waiting for her blind date at a local restaurant called Chuckleton's when the handsome man she thought was her setup date turned out to be the partner of someone else, who was also a man.
What was seen in the episode was that the two male characters gave each other a kiss on the cheek. But originally, the man Miss Baker thought was her date was supposed to give the other man a bouquet of flowers and a kiss on the mouth. This is to make it clear they are not possibly just European but are a gay couple, according to New Now Next.
"Clarence" writer Spencer Rothbell took to Tumblr to explain that this particular scene had to be changed in order to get the approval from Cartoon Network.
"It's such a minor throwaway moment but I guess it's better than nothing. Maybe one day the main character can be gay and it won't be a big deal," Rothbell wrote.
Also voicing characters for "Clarence" characters are Katie Crown, Roger Craig Smith, Eric Edelstein, Ioana Florentina Dimitriu, Kyle Arem and Grace Kaufman among others.
Watch a clip of Cartoon Network's first gay characters' scene below:
Meanwhile, Cartoon Network is currently the number one TV network for Early Prime (6-8 p.m.) delivery of two-to-eleven-year-old kids and all targeted boy demos. It also ranked number one for total day delivery of boys aged six to 11 and nine to 14, according to TV by the Numbers.