鈥楢rthur鈥� character Mr. Ratburn came out as gay during the 22nd-season premiere of the long-running animated children鈥檚 show -- and people online could not be happier.
The episode 鈥淢r. Ratburn and the Special Someone鈥� revolves around the story of Arthur and his pals finding out their third-grade teacher is marrying his long-time partner Patrick.
Outspoken activist and actress Jane Lynch -- who happens to be gay -- Patty, who officiated the cartoon wedding.
The strict but goofy character of Mr. Ratburn has been a fixture on the show since its 1996 debut episode, 鈥淎rthur鈥檚 Eyes.鈥�
While Ratburn鈥檚 sexuality has never been explicitly mentioned during the show, the character鈥檚 private life has been revealed piecemeal throughout the series.
Early on, Arthur and his pals thought he was a secret vampire only to discover he was an avid puppeteer. The fictional teacher from Lakewood Elementary School also loves bird-watching and children鈥檚 cartoons, and was in a college band called the 鈥淩atburn Rats.鈥�
American viewers saw the heartwarming revelation when the episode aired on Monday. But Canadian fans will have to wait, as newer episodes run on a delay here.
Plenty of fans have taken to Twitter to say how much they loved the 鈥溾�� representation of the LGBTQ community on TV shows and said 鈥渓ittle things like this can do so much good.鈥�
Some fans have even pointed out that, based on her character鈥檚 appearance, Jane Lynch鈥檚 character was likely 鈥�.鈥�
Other fans praising the show for 鈥渃elebrating love and fearlessly exampling to a young audience all types of relationships.鈥� Another person that this was a 鈥渂ig step for a series with such a young audience.鈥�
Some took the new episode to call out Sunday鈥檚 disappointing 鈥淕ame of Thrones penultimate episode, with one person : 鈥淢r. Ratburn being gay is *my* Game of Thrones finale.鈥�
