After 27 years, this Simpsons character finally came out last night

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Twenty-seven years' worth of episodes later, The Simpsons has finally confronted the rumors about Waylon Smithers' sexuality. In Sunday night's episode, "The Burns Cage," Smithers officially comes out as gay at a party thrown by Homer Simpson after he realizes that he has unrequited feelings for his boss, Mr. Burns. Homer hopes he'll be able to cheer up his boss, Smithers, by setting him up with an eligible bachelor at the party.

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While it's long been an "open secret" that Smithers is gay, The Independent reports that this is the first time the character's sexuality has been explicitly acknowledged. One of the show's writers, Rob LaZebnik, said that his own relationship with his gay son inspired him to finally write the storyline. "I am a Midwestern guy, so I don't tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve," LaZebnik said. "But I thought, 'What better way to tell my son I love him than to write a cartoon about it?"

LaZebnik says he wanted Smithers' coming out moment to be as accepting and low-profile as his son's was. "We didn't really want to have that big moment of 'I'm out,' you know?" LaZebnik said. "Instead, just have it be a big embrace — like everyone knows it."