@Background Pony #9D83  
Queerbaiting has been a thing since the dawn of cinema. At one point attitudes towards the LGBT community weren’t as discriminatory as they have been in the past and still are now. There was a point in the pre-WW1 years where German cinema was quite LGBT-friendly. Then a couple of world wars happened and being LGBT ended up being even more taboo than it had been before. That’s when pulp films like ‘Faster, Pussycat! Kill, Kill!’ came out. Films that had homoerotic overtones and toed the line but since they weren’t in mainstream cinema’s and/or ‘unrated’ they got away with showing stuff more mainstream films couldn’t or wouldn’t show.

you are using the wrong characters, op  

If OP was being serious, they would have used Lyra and Bon-Bon. And even that isn’t “queerbaiting” as much as it is Hasbro being as wink-wink/nudge-nudge as they can without pissing off homophobes.

Inb4 BackgroundLOL

@Background Pony #9D83  
You’re preaching to the choir.

@Background Pony #9D83  
You* Sometimes*

… queerbating is a thing? you crazy kids come up with the weirdest things sometomes.

All they’re doing is looking at each other and holding each others hands/arms. That’s it.

Sigh. I love how OP is accusing EG of queerbaiting and not even using the easiest bait; Lyra and Bon Bon from Rainbow Rocks.
 
Citing two characters known to be good (if divisively different) friends and two characters established as being straight (sorry, guys, I know SciTwiShimmer is popular and I like it myself but it’s not canon) as your argument for queerbaiting is absolutely ridiculous.
 
Shipping fuel is not queerbaiting. Learn the difference.

I’m torn on this.
 
Either OP is one of those college kid “nice guys” who doesn’t believe Platonic love is a real thing that can be freely expressed and appreciated.
 
Or.
 
OP is ridiculing other fanbases like Steven Universe who bullied a storyboard artist for “queerbaiting” (exact words) while nuanced implications of homosexual relationships is prevalent in MLP without a damn fart of protest from them.
 
So I’m not sure if this is a poorly misguided complaint, or if it’s meta satire.

thanotos is that you?

@zidders  
Same. It’s one thing when the show is aimed at a mature audience and doesn’t export as much, or cases like RWBY - where they got all the freedom to do whatever they want (unlike other shows that have to go through quality/“decency” control, which includes MLP) - yet they still favor straight ships while at best teasing LGBT relationships but clearly not presenting them in an equal light. Doesn’t help that apparently China is still very homophobic but sadly, such a strong voice when it comes to economy (i.e., the show includes explicit gay content? You can’t export it to China, and thus you lose a lot of audience, aka, money). So overall, shows for kids are very limited on these aspects. And speaking of that, I honestly don’t know how Steven Universe gets away with what it does…
 
But yeah, what MLP does isn’t queerbaiting - that would imply they actually have the freedom to do more, but are refusing to - whereas the truth is that they’re most likely just unable to (though boy would I love it if they dared go just a little further). Specially with word from the writers apparently further favoring the canon status of “assumed” LGBT couples like Lyra and Bon-Bon, or Scootaloo’s aunts.
 
What we get here is more of a “hint, hint, winky, winky! We know you’re there and we want you to let you know you’re valid. Sorry this is the most we can do but we hope you enjoy it!”, at least, that’s how I prefer to view it.

@zidders  
Nah, it’s obviously the staff trying to push those darn gays down our throats.
 

 
 
sarcasm.

I feel it’s less ‘queerbaiting’ and more an attempt by people working on the show to introduce more representation without pushing things too far. Queerbaiting just makes it sound like manipulation when it’s really more about introducing a more positive means of representation without causing their corporate bosses too much fear of reprisals/loss of sales. It’s a delicate balance.

If you say so.  
Though in fairness, in this fandom, a high-five is like queerbaiting…
 

 
 
…and it’s awesome!

I’m never one to add the “OP is trying to start shit” tag. I feel like this might qualify for it though.

Maybe if you’re desperate for that sort of thing.