Selma, the elder by two minutes, longs for male companionship and has had multiple brief, doomed marriages, and has herself offered help in some fashion to Marge and Homer as she envies their loving relationship; she receives occasional compassionate support from Homer who even poses as her husband to help her adopt a child.

Rarely seen apart, Patty and Selma are known for their distinctive gravelly voices, cynical outlook on life, bitter and unpleasant personalities, and love of cigarettes.

When Jay Sherman, on advice from Homer, told Patty and Selma that MacGyver is gay, they stripped him to his boxers and hung him from the gutters.

[8] Patty and Selma have also brought home "souvenirs" from their vacations, including a pillowcase full of seashells from their trip to Sulfur Bay that they forced the family to help them clean and organize.

[9] They drove away Richard Dean Anderson by showing him slides of their trip to the Remington Carriage Museum in Cardston, Alberta.

Moved to tears by his obvious devotion to Marge, they let him go and paid for their wedding ceremony to avoid being exposed by Bart and Lisa.

[29] Patty also joined Homer's group to ghost-write an original fantasy fiction novel, and also to stop their novel from being replaced with a drastically revamped version by the book publishing company.

[28] On a blind date arranged by Homer, Skinner was supposed to fall for Selma, but he noticed Patty first and fell in love with her instead.

They dated for a while, though Patty often showed signs of reluctance through things like unjoyful facial expressions and turned down his marriage proposal, claiming him she was too devoted to Selma to abandon her.

Patty was revealed to be lesbian in the season 16 episode "There's Something About Marrying", which follows Homer Simpson as he is ordained to perform same-sex marriages.

Producer Al Jean had announced that a character would come out prior to the episode's airing, prompting widespread speculation.

[38] In another nod to Patty's sexuality being obvious, Homer sarcastically quipped, "Here's another bomb for ya, Marge: I like beer!"

[27] Patty's next serious relationship with a woman was with Evelyn, who quickly bonded with Homer over similar traits during a trip to Costa Rica.

[41] According to Marge, Selma "likes Police Academy movies and Hummel figurines, and walking through the park on clear autumn days."

[42] Homer was sympathetic to her when she broke down after a disastrous trip to Duff Gardens with Bart and Lisa, remarking "I just couldn't cut it today", referring to raising kids.

[43] After babysitting Bart and Lisa for a day, she realized she was not ready to have children and wound up adopting Jub-Jub, her late Aunt Gladys's pet iguana.

[47] After the fraud was exposed, Selma managed to keep the baby as a Chinese dignitary (voiced by Lucy Liu), who had also been raised by a single parent, became sympathetic.

Selma has also dated various other men around Springfield, among them Hans Moleman,[49] Moe Szyslak,[51] and pitifully, Barney Gumble.

[53] In the 2005 episode "There's Something About Marrying" of the sixteenth season, Patty was revealed to be a lesbian and became the first openly gay recurring character in the series.

For example, in the season thirteen episode "Jaws Wired Shut" she is part of the Springfield Gay Pride Parade's "stayin' in the closet" float, though only her voice was heard and she was not seen.

[56] According to the publications Zeek: A Jewish Journal of Thought and Culture and Value War: Public Opinion and the Politics of Gay Rights, it was the controversial lesbian outing of the main character (played by Ellen DeGeneres) in the sitcom Ellen in 1997 that paved the way for Patty's coming-out in "There's Something About Marrying", as well as for many other gay characters on other television shows.

[57][58] In his book Queers in American Popular Culture, Jim Elledge noted that it is possible the Simpsons staff chose Patty to come out as gay instead of a male character because lesbians were "traditionally considered more acceptable" on television.

Instead, Patty is "rude, crude, and not ashamed of declaring her sexual preferences", and this could make her unpalatable to some viewers according to Elledge.

[62][63] The tabloid newspaper The Sun revealed already in September 2004 that character who would come out was Patty,[64] though this was regarded as a rumor and The Simpsons executive producer Al Jean would not confirm it.

[67] According to The Baltimore Sun, another bookmaker Paddy Power "stopped taking wagers because so much money was being placed on [Patty].