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Nickelodeon debuts gay couple in children's cartoon 'The Loud House'

The popular children's television network Nickelodeon has stoked controversy by portraying its first gay couple in one of its children's cartoon series "The Loud House" on Wednesday, in an episode titled "Overnight Success." 

Host former NFL player Michael Strahan and members of the audience are ''slimed'' during the inaugural 2014 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Sports awards at UCLA's Pauley Pavilion in Los Angeles, California July 17, 2014. | REUTERS/MARIO ANZUONI

The show, which follows the story of a boy named Lincoln Loud and his 10 sisters, introduced the parents of one of the protagonist's friends, Clyde McBride, on Wednesday's episode as a bi-racial gay couple, Harold and Howard McBride.

"Hey, Clyde. Hi, Mr. McBride. Hi, Mr. McBride," Loud greeted, as shown in a 51-second snippet of the episode posted on Twitter.

"This is it. Time to make history," said Loud moments before he opened the door to the McBrides.

Viewers immediately caught on the significance of Loud's words as the video made its rounds on social media.

"Time to make history indeed! First married gay couple on a Nickelodeon cartoon!" wrote one Twitter user.

PBS, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network also have already aired gay characters on their shows from PBS' "Postcards from Buster," Disney Channel's "Good Luck Charlie" and Cartoon Network's "Clarence."

Also Cartoon Network's "Teen Titans Go!" showed its three male lead characters Robin (from Batman and Robin), Cyborg and Beast Boy falling in love with each other.