Phil & Lil's Mom Betty Is Gay In 'Rugrats' Reboot

A Rugrats character is living her best life in the new reboot as an openly gay mom

The Rugrats reboot has one major difference from the original cartoon: Phil and Lil’s mom Betty is now openly gay. Natalie Morales, the actor who voices the character, confirmed the news to The A.V. Club. Morales, who is queer herself, said she’s incredibly excited to bring Betty back to the screen as an out and proud woman.

“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,” Morales said in a statement to the website. “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.”

Representation matters, and even though the news is sure to get some panties in a bunch somewhere, Morales simply said she wants Betty to be the type of character she would have appreciated seeing growing up. “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.” References to her ex-girlfriends seem to be the extent of Betty’s queerness on the show so far, but that alone is a win for many.

Morales also addressed what people who remember watching the cartoon back in the day may already be thinking: “Anyone who watched the original show may have had an inkling Betty was a member of the alphabet mafia,” she wrote. People on Twitter agreed: after all, she did wear a sweatshirt with the female symbol front and center (now changed to the Gemini astrological sign).

If you want to meet the new Betty, the latest Rugrats episodes are streaming now on Paramount+.