Velma Dinkey is official confirmed as a lesbian

Velma Dinkey has been confirmed as gay

Ken Spears and Joe Ruby were the masterminds behind Scooby-Doo Where Are You and the iconic characters Freddie Jones, Daphne Blake, Shaggy Rogers and Velma Dinkey. When the cartoon aired in 1969 life was shall we say more innocent. There was no such thing as an LBGTQ community and those who were gay males or lesbians kept their business private.

When it was announced yesterday that Velma Dinkey is now officially a lesbian I understood that this is the way today's culture operates but I wonder what Ruby and Spears had in mind when they first created the popular cartoon. At the time Scooby-Doo debuted his gang were simply four teenagers having adventures but over time with each new incantation of the series things changed.

Daphne became a rich airhead who was jealous of Freddie and eventually Shaggy and Velma even tried to date but it did not work out. The cartoon characters evolved from being friends into being sexualized which took away from the innocence of the original series. Our modern culture likes to look at everything from a sexual lens but when Velma first arrived on the scene she was just a studious girl in glasses the opposite of Daphne who was into fashion.

Putting perspective on the matter

I thought perhaps I was naive and missed something while watching Scooby-Doo so I spoke with a young man and woman in their 30s who also enjoy the shows. Both said they never really thought about Velma's sexuality and the woman added that now that it's been revealed she can see it. James Gunn and Tony Cervone said they tried to insert Velma being gay into the character early on but the powers that be kept watering down their efforts.

A scene from the new movie “Trick or Treat Scooby-Doo!,” is what brought this issue to light and has gone viral on Twitter. Some fans say Velma's sexuality has long been an open secret in the clip, Velma is speechless and googly-eyed when she meets costume designer Coco Diablo. Gunn says he and Cervone always intended for Velma to be gay but what did Ruby and Spears intend when the show was created?

When I was growing up in the late 1960s and early 1970s I recall girls who looked like Velma from the glasses, to the socks, the haircut, and the skirt. I recall one was named Douglas and later on it was confirmed that she was a lesbian. Mindy Cohen from the Facts of Life voiced Velma for a short while and had a few similar mannerisms as her character and she came out not too long ago as gay.

The situation is not easy to read

Am I supposed to assume from this that Velma was made gay because of her attire because to some she "Looked the part?" Would this not be stereotyping lesbians to an outward look or recognizing that sometimes people do appear as who they are? I had assumed that Ruby and Spears were simply capturing the essence of stereotypes of teenagers during the time that they created Scooby-Doo. Freddie was the cute guy and the athlete and Daphne was the rich spoiled girl who might be captain of the cheerleading squad. Shaggy was the hippy dude who was not too bright and Velma was the straight A brainy girl in glasses.

Now in 2022, Ms. Velma Dinkey is confirmed as a lesbian and there are many people excited about this revelation who say they already knew. We will never know what Spears and Ruby intended so all we have is now. Scooby-Doo Where Are You was created at a time when it was assumed the four teens were couples but their romantic life was not emphasized. Ruby and Spears possibly like many Scooby fans believed they were creating a nerdy tomboy character because they themselves may not have understood that her persona would one day have her labeled as part of the LBGTQ community and that day is here.