Phil and Lil’s mom Betty in Rugrats has low-key always been a queer icon. Sure, she’s married to boring ol’ Howard (we wouldn’t blame you if you forgot about him). But let’s be real: Betty was gay as fuck—and now that’s actually canon. Betty will be an openly gay woman in the Paramount+ Rugrats series, and she’ll be voiced by queer actor Natalie Morales. This time, instead of her sweater having the “female” symbol, Betty’s donning a Gemini sweater. The Rugrats showrunners clearly know queer ladies love astrology.
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In an exclusive statement to The A.V. Club, Morales says she’s very excited to join part of Rugrats by voicing Betty and that she thinks “anyone who watched the original show may have had an inkling Betty was a member of the alphabet mafia.” She also shares what it means to revive the character in a way that brings queer representation to such a nostalgic show. “Betty is a single mom with her own business who has twins and still has time to hang out with her friends and her community, and I think it’s just so great because examples of living your life happily and healthily as an out queer person is just such a beacon for young queer people who may not have examples of that,” she explains. “And yeah, Betty is a fictional cartoon, but even cartoons were hugely influential for me as a kid and if I’d been watching Rugrats and seen Betty casually talking about her ex-girlfriend, I think at least a part of me would have felt like things might be okay in the future.”
Some things to know about this updated version of Betty: She loves football, owns a café called Betty’s Beans, and she cracks jokes about her ex-girlfriends. Now all we need is to know her thoughts on sharing a name with Taylor Swift’s gayest song. We’ll get to find out more about this new version of Betty when the show premieres May 27 on Paramount+.
