Leslie Knope from Parks & Recreation, posing with two happily married penguins who happen to be gay. Illustration by Ian O'Phelan.

“Pawnee Zoo” (September 17, 2009)

Okay, fine, we did the Parks & Rec episode you asked for, but here’s the thing: The one were Leslie Knope marries gay penguins is not the pro-gay piece of TV history you think it is. Nowhere in this episode does Leslie ever say she gives a dirty squirt about gays or same-sex marriage. The episode never takes a position, and the fact that it won a GLAAD Media Award makes it all the more galling that “Pawnee Zoo” plays out as Leslie liking positive attention but never saying a single nice thing about gay people.

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Episode art designed by Ian O’Phelan.