As of October 4, the new “Trick or Treat Scooby Doo” movie introduced Velma Dinkley as openly lesbian. In the past, several fans previously speculated on the character’s involvement in the LGBTQ+ community. The LGBTQ community saw this as a major win; her change in sexuality shows that queer people continue to become exceedingly represented in today’s society. Although James Gunn and Tony Cervone previously confirmed Velma’s sexuality in 2020, the character never openly expressed it on any of the various shows and movies. During the original Scooby Doo episodes in the ‘70s, society did not accept the open expression of sexuality as much as it does now. 

“I think that representation for kids is important, but at the same time I feel like creating new characters that are gay or bi[sexual] would be better than making existing characters gay or bi[sexual]. I don’t think kids really care about it either. Kids are not inherently hateful towards members of the LGBTQ+ community. They are taught to hate so I do not think they would care about it that much,” magnet senior Belcy Emerson.

In the ‘90s, Velma expressed femininity and her superior intellect in comparison to the other characters in the Scooby Doo realm. In contrast to her ditsy, fashionable female counterpart Daphne Blake, Velma focused less on relationships with males or any serious relationships in general. Fans previously speculated that she and Norville Rodgers (also known as Shaggy) dated during the show, but none of the writers of the show confirmed their relationship nor did they officially announce it on the show. 

In the new “Trick or Treat Scooby Doo” movie, Velma finds her newfound love in Coco Diablo. Throughout the movie Velma flirts with Coco, expressing her obvious attraction to her. In one particular scene of the movie when Velma locks eyes with Coco, her glasses fog up and her cheeks turn red. 

People may or may not agree with Velma’s expression of her sexuality, however, it should not come as a surprise to them. Velma clearly showed no attraction to any of the male characters in the show. Additionally, the LGBTQ+ community seems extremely pleased that they can welcome the notable character into their community. 

“We always planned on Velma acting a little off and out of character when she was dating Shaggy because that relationship was wrong for her and she had unspoken difficulty with the why. There are hints about the why in that episode with the mermaid, and if you follow the entire Marcie arc it seems as clear as we could make it 10 years ago. I don’t think Marcie and Velma had time to act on their feelings during the main timeline, but post-reset, they are a couple. You can not like it, but this was our intention,” Scooby Doo movie writer James Gunn said.