'My Little Pony' Introduces Its First Same-Sex Couple

Last month, popular animated kids' show Arthur made headlines when Mr Ratburn, the third-grade teacher of the title character, not only came out as gay but also married his boyfriend Patrick in the PBS show's season 22 premiere.

And now, just a month later, the My Little Pony franchise is all set to introduce their first same-sex couple in the upcoming episode of My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic.

In an episode titled The Last Crusade, viewers will be introduced to Aunt Holiday and Auntie Lofty, a lesbian couple who look after a Pegasus named Scootaloo.

The episode has already been shown in Europe and will air in the United States this Saturday on Discovery Family.

"I think it’s fantastic that we can show that what truly defines a family is love — that, to me, is the core of My Little Pony," co-showrunner Nicole Dubuc told Buzzfeed News on Wednesday.

"Nicole and I thought this was a great opportunity to organically introduce an LGBTQ couple in the series, and we asked Hasbro and they approved it," writer and producer Michael Vogel added. "With [co-showrunner] Josh [Haber] and Nicole running the final season together, it was something we all wanted to do — bring this out couple into the final season and make them ‘officially’ a part of the MLP world.

"My Little Pony has always been about friendship and accepting people (or ponies) that are different from you," he continued. "So it just felt like something important to do."

Haber also told Buzzfeed that "diversity and representation are important for kids for so many reasons, and it’s my first priority on everything I work on."

Catch the episode this Saturday on Discovery Family.