The LGBT community in Springfield just got a little bigger! After 27 years of being in a glass closet, Waylon Smithers from The Simpsons will finally announce that he’s a gay man on Sunday night’s episode. This comes as no surprise to Simpsons fans; not only because Smithers’ sexuality has been one of the show’s most known secrets, but producers of the show announced this back in September.
The episode written by longtime Simpsons contributor, Rob LaZebnik, is a personal tribute to his 21-year-old son, Johnny, who is gay. LaZebnik told the New York Post on Friday, “What better way to tell my son I love him than to write a cartoon about it.”
Rob, who has been working on the episode for three years even asked for his son’s help on it. Johnny explained to the Post that his father wrote him an email asking about the popular gay hookup app, Grindr. Aye caramba!
In Sunday’s episode, Smithers will finally come to terms with the fact that his love for Mr. Burns will never be mutual. Homer will then try to help Smithers find someone else to fall for.
This isn’t the first time that The Simpsons tackled the issue of coming out. In season 16, Marge’s sister, Patty, revealed that she was a lesbian. She eventually married a woman who actually turned out to be a man, but we’ll just forget about that last part.
(Via New York Post)