As cartoons go, Steven Universe is pretty unique. For starters, it’s the first animated series on the Cartoon Network to be written by a woman, Rebecca Sugar. And it tells the story of a boy being raised by three women – named Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl.

The show is a cult hit and has been widely praised for its diverse characters and storylines. Recently, this included a same-sex kiss between Pearl and another female-presenting character, Rose Quartz - who the channel previously confirmed were in a relationship.

Except. While the kiss aired in the US, Cartoon Network UK decided to remove it .

"What makes Steven Universe truly great is a level of diversity that every TV show, book and film should aim for."

This week, it defended the decision and in a statement to Pink News, said: " In the UK we have to ensure everything on air is suitable for kids of any age at any time. We do feel that the slightly edited version is more comfortable for local kids and their parents".

Needless to say, it didn’t have the same problem with the straight kiss that closed out the same episode.

A petition to reinstate the kiss has reached almost 5,500 signatures.

The Steven of the title is a chubby little boy being brought-up by a single father and the Crystal Gems - friends of his alien mother tasked with saving the world. Stay with me.

Creator Sugar explicitly set out “to really tear down and play with the semiotics of gender in cartoons for children because I think that’s a really absurd idea that there would be something radically different about a show for little girls versus a show for little boys.”

"It seems that while they’re happy to accept praise for diversity, their LGBT characters are still held to standards that straight people never have to worry about."

It’s meticulously plotted science fiction, as well as being an enjoyable animated romp for kids. But what makes Steven Universe truly great is a level of diversity that every TV show, book and film should aim for.

That extends to the casting, something that many animated shows using voice actors ignore - over half are people of colour and the majority of the show’s characters are voiced by women (even if they are semi-genderless magical energy beings).

It isn’t the first time that Cartoon Network has censored a gay kiss – when one was written into their show Clarence, it never even made it to air.

It seems that while they’re happy to accept praise for diversity, their LGBT characters are still held to standards that straight people, both real and animated, never have to worry about.

And God forbid the wholesome, heterosexual British child viewers should have to see such racy content as a quick peck on the lips between two animated same-sex characters.

Lib Dem MP Norman Lamb made headlines last year, when he criticised children’s TV shows such as Peppa Pig and said they should have more homosexual characters.

"There is nothing more sexual, deviant or X-rated about two people of the same sex kissing, even if they are magic aliens."

He argued: “We have to… be clear that when someone grows up they know that they can be themselves. It’s a really important principle. And that’s demonstrated in everything that the broadcasters do, in the way that education behaves – you can be yourself, you can love who you want, society won’t judge you on the basis of that.”

Watch any children’s show that features adult characters, and you’ll see straight couples. From Peppa’s parents to Postman Pat’s wife, there’s a long tradition of promoting heterosexuality in children’s TV.

But there is nothing more inherently sexual, more deviant or X-rated, about two people of the same sex kissing, even if they are magic aliens who save Earth every week.

Peppa Pig: more gay characters? Credit: Channel 5

Attempts to protect young people from portrayals of LGBT people and relationships assumes that all children are straight and cisgender (that they identify with the gender they were born with), when many of us know at a young age that we aren’t.

These days, most teen shows feature at least one queer character - but that representation needs to be there from the beginning.

Steven Universe’s diversity has drawn many adult viewers as well. Bisexual fan Stephanie said she cried when she watched the show. If it had aired when she was at school, she told me that she’d have “been spared the homophobic bullying that went on in both high school and primary that led to self-harm and mental health issues.”

"I think what a lot of people don't realise is how lonely it can be to enjoy a culture that excludes you." Rei, 25

Stephanie, a mental health campaigner who also has schizophrenia, welcomes the shows’ progressive treatment of mental health for showing that people suffering from depression, trauma and anxiety “can still have friends and be responsible guardians. There's an episode where a girl has a panic attack not wanting to perform and in any other kids’ show she would have faced her fears and done it anyhow. In Steven Universe, her anxiety is too bad to do it and that's totally OK.”

At 25, Rei is a little older than Sugar may have had in mind when she created Steven Universe, but the show is enormously important to the genderqueer lesbian.

Part of the removed scene by Cartoon Network UK Credit: Cartoon Network

“I think what a lot of people don't realise is how lonely it can be to enjoy a culture that excludes you,” they say. “Two of the things I love the most are cartoons and romance novels, and they're one of the primary culprits in this regard.

“You just don't see queer people in them very much - at best they're implicit, or off to the side somewhere. They exist, sure, but this story probably isn't going to be about them. It's like an intellectual unrequited crush. So seeing queer relationships in Steven Universe feels kind of like the genre might love me back someday.”

Cartoon Network UK’s decision to censor the scene no doubt will make a minority of parents relieved, saving any questions about what two female-identified characters are doing for another day and another kiss. But for the children who won’t grow up straight, who already know that they are different and may even have a word for it, the edited version will be one more lost chance to make them feel comfortable, to make them feel represented and like they belong.