Wait, Is Mr. Simmons from 'Hey Arnold' Gay?

Last month, long-running PBS animated series Arthurmade all sorts of viral headlines when the show's cake-loving third grade teacher, Mr. Ratburn, officially came out as gay after getting married to his huband Patrick—but it looks like he isn't the only queer teacher from a kids shows who is canonically queer!

Apparently, Mr. Simmons, P.S. 118's uber-enthusiastic fourth grade teacher from Nickelodeon's iconic '90s staple Hey Arnold! is also gay!

In a new Instagram post, animator and Hey Arnold! creator Craig Bartlett wished the beloved teacher a Happy Pride Month, and talked about the creation of his character.

"Happy #pridemonth to Mr. Simmons!" Bartlett wrote in a caption of a cute AF illustration of Mr. Simmons wearing a rainbow pin on his trademark sweater vest. "We introduced him in season 2 when we realized that Ms. Slovak was too one-note, a teacher who just didn’t care, and the Simpsons had already covered that. So we thought, how about a teacher who REALLY cares, almost too much? And Simmons was born."

This isn't the first time Bartlett has talked openly about Mr. Simmons and his sexuality. 

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According to a 2018 BuzzFeed article, during press promotion for 2017's Hey Arnold!: The Jungle Movie, Bartlett confirmed a long-standing fan theory that Mr. Simmons is a part of the LGBTQ community after viewers were introduced to a friend of his named Peter in the show's Thanksgiving special (which originally aired in 1998).

For context, here's the full scene. Every closted queer person who had to endure awkward AF family holidays can definitely relate. 

"A lot of the audience assumed he was gay," Bartlett said. "Well, guess what? Peter IS Mr. Simmons' partner."

We didn't think it was even possible to love an already diverse show like Hey Arnold! more than we already do, but after knowing what we know about Mr. Simmons, we can't help but stan harder than ever before! What a great way to start Pride Month! Gay rights!!!