Smithers’ boyfriend is not Mr. Burns
For years, Smithers’ sexuality was used as the butt of jokes. It didn’t help that there was the episode where he dreamed that Mr. Burns would keep on screaming his name. In 2016, Smithers finally came out and confirmed that he was gay and now several years later, he’ll have a romantic Simpsons episode all to himself. The TLDR; of the episode’s synopsis sees Smithers finding true love with a boyfriend. His paramour is described as a “famous fashion designer” but it’s not as straightforward. The synopsis warns that the new relationship might doom Springfield. Fittingly enough, Rob LaZebnik will write the episode alongside his son, Johnny, who recently described himself as a “d’ohmosexual” and was the inspiration for Rob to write the upcoming episode. The Simpsons has done a great job at keeping itself relevant over the years. The show’s even been considered one of the frontrunners when it comes to being open-minded. Case in point, a 1997 episode “Homer’s Phobia” shows how the series’ lead, Homer Simpson, tried to dissociate himself from a new family friend after finding out that he was gay. Many supporters of the LGBTQ+ movement often cite the episode as a perfect example of how to show that the discrimination against the community exists and is real. Here’s hoping that Smithers’ upcoming episode, “Portrait of a Lackey on Fire”, accomplishes the same thing for the show as previous groundbreaking ones did.
