Peppermint patty gay

Peanuts creator Charles Schultz is long-rumored to have based the tomboy-athlete Peppermint Patty on lesbian tennis player Billie Jean King. That would go a long way to explaining her.
If Pigpen was an emblem of self-acceptance, an even better example was Peppermint Patty. She and her friend Marcie attend a different school than Charlie Brown, on the other side of town.