Homosexuality in Daria

One of the most asked questions in *Daria* fandom (particularly the older male part): "Are Daria and Jane lesbians?" Do the sixty-five episodes, two movies and two canon publications imply or prove outright that either Daria or Jane are gay?

The show writers knew of the debate and in two sections of the Sarcastathon 3000 framing sequences, they mock them: Daria not wanting to be seen nude near Jane because of "those rumours about us" and the two being drawn as a bride and groom.

## Daria and Jane

The fan reading is usually based on the closeness of Daria and Jane. The former is constantly put out when Jane spends any time with a boy and even when Tom Sloane arrives, after "The Kiss" Jane and Daria show more concern about their lost friendship than with losing/gaining Tom.

The show itself says "no" for Jane. Significantly, in "Is It Fall Yet?", Jane explicitly tells Alison she isn't gay and is left severely rattled by the idea she might have been after all; while Alison claims she's picking up signs, it's clear this was just patter to get what she wanted. However, Glenn Eichler said in a June 2005 interview that Jane could be "straight and curious" (even though he wrote her being decidedly *un*curious in IFFY?) and left open the door to speculation.

Daria and Jane both deny being lesbians as show hosts on MTV's *Daria* Day Marathon, an "off-canon canon" scene:

*Daria*: Okay, we're back with an online question from Brian H.
*Jane*: "Dear Daria, are you a lesbian? If so, would you be interested in acting in a film?" Wow.
*Daria*: Brian, I'm not a lesbian. But if you think you have to be a lesbian to play a lesbian, then you must think Tom Cruise drinks the blood of virgins.
*Jane*: Um, bad example.
*Daria*: Huh? Oh yeah, but you know what I mean.
*Jane*: I'm a lesbian!
*Daria*: You are not.
*Jane*: I know, but I want to be in a movie.
This can always be dismissed as not part of the show proper.

## Other characters and their views

We know that Kevin Thompson and Jeffy have some homophobia. Jeffy's English essay in "Lucky Strike" argues that Mercutio has "a thing" and that he thus needs to be kept out of the locker room. On his MTV website, Kevin made it clear he wasn't gay when he assured us "not that I notice guy butts, no way. In the shower I just stare at the tiles. Uh, this is making me uncomfortable."

Jake Morgendorffer once thought Monique was Quinn's date and his reaction was a mild "I really '*don't* know my kids" - apparently a man who is comfortable with the concept.

Alison is canonically bisexual, which we're putting here because otherwise we need to make a page called "Bisexuality in Daria" just for her.

In a curious alter-ago picture at the end of the TV movie, *Is It College Yet?,* Lindy and Alison were depicted in a scene on a farm with a number of children, implying that they were a lesbian couple with a family.

## Ted?

Ted DeWitt-Clinton is often portrayed in fanworks as gay. It's unclear when this started but seems based on how he's a nice, friendly naive young man and how he blew off a girl (who he seemed unclear if he was interested in) to pal around with the guys. Usually in these stories, he's paired with Robert based on them becoming bros in "The New Kid".

Now, there's not the slightest canon evidence that Ted is gay but the fanon is inescapable and why not? There's no evidence he's straight either!

In the *Daria* website, Ted refers to "the haunting allure of Charlie Rose. Those sad eyes of his have seen so much. What's happening to me?" Surprisingly, this wasn't known about by most of fandom when he started being written as gay!

## Dated views

One thing that dates *Daria* is that there's no LGBT characters in it except Alison - a predatory bisexual. As time moves on, this becomes increasingly problematic. Presumably a modern reboot would play this differently.