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 bisexual 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.
In an exclusive statement to The A.V. Club, Morales 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+.