Obviously Velma is a Lesbian.

I mean, come on, y’all. Scooby Doo has been in my life as long as my memory serves, and likewise, some part of me has always known Velma is into chicks. I knew Velma was a lesbo before I had a grasp on what homosexuality even was– like how we all know Fred and Daphne have been hooking up since, like, 1983.

That being said, does it really need to be A Thing? Must we be inundated with a flurry of alphabet flags just for googling the broad?

I would answer “No,” personally.

I would go so far as to suggest that the most successful depictions of gay characters are the ones where the characters are just, like, gay. As a secondary feature. A non-defining characteristic.

Need an example? Try Orphan Black, featuring Cosima “I have better things to talk about than sexual orientation” Niehaus.

Or tune into Schitt’s Creek, where David and Patrick make one of TV’s cutest couples because they are well-written, entertaining characters who show a genuine connection, and not simply because they’re gay.

Now, to be clear, I’m not talking about taking characters who have been canonically straight and turning them gay. That’s a whole different enchilada. The point I’m making is that gay characters are out there and that’s fine– the problem is when creators get all self-congratulatory about it and try to garner accolades for being sooooo progressive.

Making a big deal about confirming what we all knew about Velma is a waste of everyone’s energy. The fact that anyone is responding beyond a “Well, yeah, duh?” and moving on to important things is baffling to me. And it undermines the legitimacy of her character– or any gay character– by making their sexuality a defining characteristic.

So. . . cut it out, media. I said so.