I thought Craig of the Creek was a cartoon about summer camp, with the usual Nickelodeon hetero-horny kids and absence of same-sex desire. Then it was nominated for a GLAAD Award.
It's actually not summer camp, it's a creek near Craig's house in suburban Baltimore, where he has adventures with his friends Kelsey and JP, a girl and a boy. All three get girlfriends at one point, Kelsey in Season 4, which seems to be the season of the LGBTQ characters: we meet two other lesbians, JP's sister and Craig's cousin, plus a nonbinary adult.
Top photo: Ian Roberts, an out Australian rugby player, but not the same one who plays Kelsey's Dad.
The Creek kids are divided into various tribes: The Elders, Junior Forest Scouts, Horse Girls, 10 Speeds, Ninja Kids, Sewer Kids, and so on. There are dozens of characters, most not differentiated, but two are established as gay. I'll review the two episodes featuring the Secret Keeper, who becomes the boyfriend of snooty Tea-Timer George.
Secret in a Bottle, Episode 2.26: Craig doesn't want his friends to put their sharp, sap-covered sticks into his nice new purse, but they do it anyway. He rushs to the lair of the Secret Keeper, who writes down people's secrets and hides them in bottles, so they don't have to agonize over them.
Craig's secret: Sometimes he finds his pals annoying.
Left: Cole Escola, who plays Secret KeeperIn the morning, after a thunderstorm, Craig and his pals find some of the secret bottles -- the storm flooded Secret Keeper's lair! He is disconsolate: "The kids of the Creek trusted me with their secrets, and I've failed them!" But the trio gathers all of the bottles for him.
Except one, which Eliza, head of the snooty Tea-Timers, has found, and plans to sell.
At Tea-Time, none of the kids know whose secret is inside, so they all bid, with possessions like a picture of a unicorn and a wheel. But Craig can't let his friends give up their possessions, so he blurts out his secret. The other kids follow, except for the member of the Horse Girls who doesn't like horses: Secret Keeper pretends to have that one.
Left: Michael Croner, who voices JP/Silver Fist and George.
Queer Codes: George is in the scene, but he and Secret Keeper don't interact in any way. I imagine that they hadn't decided to differentiate him as gay yet. The only queer codes I can see: the whole "secrets" scenario; and Secret Keeper appears to be wearing a dress.
More secrets after the break
Silver Fist Returns, Episode 4.25: Lady T, who wears a clown mask, has taken Cat Burglar's diary hostage, and is blackmailing him to steal the treasures of the kids of the Creek. JT adopts the persona of superhero Silver Fist to solve the mystery.
We cut to an awards ceremeony at Cardboard City. Cat Burglar bursts through the cardboard roof, landing on the Tea Timers' table. "Sorry, George," he says, blushing. George replies "Oh, I'm quite fine."
Cat Burgler grabs Craig's diamond staff and runs away. JP as Silver Fist chases him across rooftops. They fight. JP suggests that he give the stuff back, turn good, and become his sidekick. But he can't: "I've chosen my path, and I can't look back."
In the lair of the evil Lady T. "I can't do this anymore," Cat Burglar cries, but Lady T points out that she still has his diary.
Silver Fist and his friends burst in, having tailed Cat Burglar, and de-mask her: she's Eliza, leader of the Tea Timers! She explains that she was planning to return the kids' possessions and become a hero. And I would have gotten away with it, if it weren't for you snoopy kids.
The other tea-timers emerge, and start to hypnotize them into wanting tea, but Cat Burglar covers Silver Fist's eyes, saving him. "That's what superheroes do," he explains.
Cat Burglar and Silver Fist work together to fight their hypnotized friends and the Tea Timers -- well, Cat Burgler refuses to hit George. Eliza the Head Tea Timer tries to hypnotize them, but they turn the tables: "You're a bad kid who has to return the kids' stuff and apologize."
As the crisis is resolved, Cat Burglar thanks Silver Fist for believing in him. Are they going to be the gay couple?
"Yes, and I have a secret I'd like to share: I like you." Kiss him!
George gasps, blushes, and looks away. Then: "Would you like to hang out sometime?"
"Yeah! Um, I mean...I guess that would be cool." The camera pans out to a shot of a romantic full moon.
Queer codes: Secret Keeper apologizes to George, doesn't want to hit him, and then confesses to liking him. He actually has more of a gay subtext with JP, including a rescue and a promise of permanence. But JP has already been established as heterosexual, and the fastidious, well-dressed, snobbish George could easily be read as a gay stereotype.
Neither character appears again, but the fan wiki calls them "boyfriends."
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There are bonus dicks of Ian Roberts and Adam Devine on RG Beefcake and Boyfriends
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