While we’re celebrating the cameo from a possible lesbian pair in the new Finding Dory, it’s also worth noting that Clarence, one of television’s most well-liked children’s animated series, has a recurring lesbian mom duo voiced by Lea DeLaria and Tig Notaro.
Clarence follows an 8-year-old boy and his friends, including his BFF Jeff Randell. Jeff’s moms EJ and Sue (Lea and Tig, respectively) have appeared in a handful of episodes over the show’s two seasons on Cartoon Network, including last week’s “Jeff’s Secret,” where it’s revealed their son has six toes on one foot, something he desperately doesn’t want his classmates to know. His gay moms, meanwhile, pose no issue.
The couple first made an appearance in the 2014 episode “Jeff Wins,” as Jeff prepares for his annual entry into the local cook-off. Clarence goes to Jeff’s and consults with the moms, who relay how stressed Jeff makes himself. In a flashback montage of years past, EJ and Sue are pictured together in support of Jeff, camera in hand to capture the winning moments, and always with different style choices, especially Sue with her radically queer short ‘dos.
Together, the couple is affectionate and loving wives/parents who never have to explain or have explained their relationship to their son. They are friends with the town Mayor as well as their neighbors and other parents, and in the comics, they are part of the community garden and take the kids on road trips. Basically, they’re cool moms who are into meditating and focusing on their son, which is a kind of quiet yet somehow still radical visibility that we are searching for in children’s programming. The fact they hired actual lesbians to voice the characters is even more fun, and a wink and a nod to queer viewers.
Clarence is currently in its second season on Cartoon Network.
