Disney's 8 'First Openly Gay' Characters: A Short History

Contents:

• IT'S NOT JT FROZEN: MOST DISNEY MOVI ARE PRO-GAY
• DISNEY'S 8 'FIRST OPENLY GAY' CHARACTERS, RANKED (BY HOW EMBARRASSED DISNEY SHOULD FEEL)
• ‘STRANGE WORLD’ IS DISNEY’S FIRST ANIMATED MOVIE WH A GAY LEAD. WHY IS IT BEG BURIED?
• DISNEY ACCED OF REMOVG GAY NTENT OM PIXAR FILMS
• DISNEY FILM FEATURG GAY MA CHARACTER BOMBS AT BOX OFFICE
• IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE
• LIST: 'STRANGE WORLD' REVIEWS ABOUT DISNEY'S FIRST OUT GAY, CHARACTER, BIRACIAL QUEER TEEN

IT'S NOT JT FROZEN: MOST DISNEY MOVI ARE PRO-GAY

Vel Sartha (Faye Marsay) and Cta Kaz (Varada Sethu) Andor, (Image cred: Disney Pl)Jungle CiseJungle Cise was so, so, so close to almost havg a character say the words "I'm gay" on screen. (Image cred: Disney+)CellaSure, we might have roasted Disney a ty b our Cella review for once aga pattg themselv on the back for their "first" out gay character (for the seventh time) and not even havg the cency to do anythg beyond an implic gay scriptn. Bex puts a ser damper on Andi and her iends' fun which tak a toll on her first year as a Goodman, one of Andi's bt iends, ma history as the first Disney character to ever say the words "I'm gay, " out loud on televisn.

It also featur Ashman’s tragic end as a gay man the 1990s, dyg as a rult of plitns om AIDS durg the height of the AIDS epimic New York before Bety and the Beast released. Not only is Cella one of Disney's bt live-actn remak, but also featured Disney's first "major" gay character -- a claim that was qutned by some Disney fans sce Disney has ed the same headle before.

Updated on June 7th, 2022 by Danielle Bnti: In the wake of Florida's extremely ntroversial "Don't Say Gay" bill and the strong cricism that me om wh The Walt Disney Company for not speakg up, seems like Disney is fally unrstandg out important LGBTQ+ reprentatn is for s fans and s st members.

DISNEY'S 8 'FIRST OPENLY GAY' CHARACTERS, RANKED (BY HOW EMBARRASSED DISNEY SHOULD FEEL)

Artie is able to be his thentic self and actor John McCrea is happy wh his portrayal of Artie and believ him to be a gay character, but Disney yet aga ma the mistake of not fully lvg to Artie beg an openly gay character. Certa groups are upset at the ia of a children's movie reprentg the LGBTQ+ muny while progrsiv are upset at Jack Whehall's stg, believg a gay actor should be st, and the ia that might be a stereotypil, harmful reprentatn. The show's creator and executive producer Terri Msky said that Cys and his story were largely spired by Terri's dghter's iends, who knew that they were gay middle school.

Wh s reactn to Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, the removal of LGBTQ+ characters seri like Gravy Falls and the ncellatn of LGBTQ-led The Owl Hoe, and Pixar employe allegg that executiv have censored queer characters out of their films, there has been an outcry om the LGBTQ+ muny for Disney to improve s LGBTQ+ reprentatn.

The film was the one to troduce the first openly gay superhero — Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry) — to the MCU, but that isn't the only thg that mak Eternals the perfect addn to a celebratn of Pri. It also troduced gay characters to the beloved anchise wh Carlos (played by Frankie Rodriguez), Seb (Joe Serafi), and Maddox (Saylor Bella Curda), as well as bisexual characters Ashlyn (Julia Lter) and Big Red (Larry Saperste). Wh the live-actn spoff about one of Disney’s most famo villas, Cella also boasts the first gay character a live-actn Disney movie wh Artie (John McCrea), per Pri.

‘STRANGE WORLD’ IS DISNEY’S FIRST ANIMATED MOVIE WH A GAY LEAD. WHY IS IT BEG BURIED?

“I thk ’s important to say he is queer bee obvly, lots of people were drsed like that at the time that weren’t necsarily queer, but my head, he always was, ” he told Gay Tim. Disney’s 2022 sci-fi animated feature Strange World is one of the first animated films to feature a gay lead protagonist wh Ethan Cla (voiced by Jaboie Young-Whe).

While some of Disney’s other gay characters have been cricized for eher queer-d characters or poor exampl of reprentatn, Strange World received much praise for the portrayal of Ethan’s story, per Mashable. "Andi Mack" was the first seri on Disney Channel to feature a gay ma characterValkyrie, played by Tsa Thompson, appears two "Thor" films and two "Avengers" filmsWhen asked if Loki romanced would-be prcs or another prce, the god of mischief rpond wh, "A b of both"Is "Strange World" the first Disney movie that featur a gay character?

DISNEY ACCED OF REMOVG GAY NTENT OM PIXAR FILMS

" It's the first Disney movie wh an out, gay November at the Los Angel premiere of "Strange World, " star Jake Gyllenhaal said Disney's animated fay adventure normaliz a "queer kid" character as part of s storyle about young people fdg their own inty. 'Florida teacher vtigated by state agency for showg this Disney movie classCrics' take on "Strange World":List: 'Strange World' reviews about Disney's first out gay, character, biracial queer teenDisney vs. In 2017, "Andi Mack" ma s but on Disney Channel, and was the first seri on that work to feature a gay ma Elizabeth Lee played the tle character, and her world is turned upsi-down (jt before her 13th birthday) when she learns her olr sister is actually her mother, and her mother is actually her grandmother.

Episo 1 rep:The ‘Loki’ premiere fds the God of Mischief a strange new realyIt's Hiddlton's Loki nfirmed as Marvel's first bisexual lead characterIs there a gay character Marvel's 'Eternals? 'In the 1991 animated feature "Bety and the Beast, " 's clear LeFou worships Gaston − as his bt the 2017 live-actn film "Bety and the Beast, " starrg Emma Watson (the "Harry Potter" films) as Belle, Le Evans (the "Hobb" films) as Gaston and Dan Stevens as the Beast, LeFou worships Gaston − and, who was straight the animated classic, was gay this versn. (Image cred: Walt Disney Studs)Disney’s “First Gay Moment” It would not be until 2017 that we got anythg remblg an overt reference to anythg other than a straight character a movie om Disney.

DISNEY FILM FEATURG GAY MA CHARACTER BOMBS AT BOX OFFICE

(Image cred: Lusfilm/Disney)Background Scen In 2019, we saw a strange pattern emergg where movi released by Disney would “clu” gay characters, but only as set drsg.

(Image cred: Marvel Studs)The Mor Mentns Concurrently wh the background scen that you might not have even noticed, we saw the first direct referenc to gay characters some other Disney movi. The at least had the benef of beg characters who were the center of the ame and liverg dialogue, though they were also mor characters who viewers were likely to fet about Stud’s “first gay character” appeared Avengers: Endgame, and was played by one of the move's directors, Joe Rso. (Image cred: Disney)2021 - The Year Of Actual Gay Characters In Disney Movi Disney still has a long way to go when to LGBTQ+ reprentatn s films, but 2021 was at least a signifint step forward as we saw three films where signifint characters who were important to the stori beg told were queer.

That would seem to dite the gay scene was cut, as Cha ually do not allow such ntent the movi releas, but I have been unable to nfirm that, so 's possible the scene stayed .

IS LU PIXAR’S FIRST GAY MOVIE? MAYBE

Intertgly, the word is that the scene was origally cut om the Chris Evans-led movie before beg add back followg the aftermath the ongog battle between Disney and Florida over the state’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Elsa hidg her ice-powers uld be read as a metaphor for the closet, the Osr-wng “Let Go” plays like a g-out anthem, and a character the film evok the qutn of whether homosexualy is a choice by quirg of Elsa’s powers, “born wh or cursed? Through both s rporate practic and the ntent of s films, Disney for s has implemented the so-lled "gay agenda"—which is to say, helpg make the world a more acceptg start the most obv place: As a bs, Disney has long held a progrsive attu toward LGBT people.

Gay pri events have been hosted at Disney World sce 1991, and the pany started offered s gay employe health surance benefs for their partners sce 1995, a cisn that wasn’t entirely popular back of the most poignant exampl of the pany’s tolerant atmosphere is the se of lyricist Howard Ashman, who was openly gay and died of AIDS 1991.

LIST: 'STRANGE WORLD' REVIEWS ABOUT DISNEY'S FIRST OUT GAY, CHARACTER, BIRACIAL QUEER TEEN

In this way, even though Disney films ually offer a tradnal happy endg wh a heterosexual marriage, the journey always volv rejectg parental and societal expectatns, and exercisg a “eedom to marry whomever you love” spir that is enmic to gay, many Disney romanc are exampl of “impossible sire, ” a trope that is ccial to the queer experience, as genr-studi theorist Heather Love argued Feelg Backward. The pany has never been known for s great LGBTQ+ reprentatn or polics, but 's e unr even more scty than ual after fans learned that the pany was donatg money to legislators Florida backg that state's ntroversial "Don't Say Gay" bill. Especially when the news broke that Pixar has been censorg gay ntent out of s films for Disney really been producg enough spirg ntent to unteract s donatns and lack of a statement?

When this live-actn remake me out, Disney touted LeFou (played by Josh Gad) as beg their first gay character and even said that he had an "exclively gay moment" the film. Disney and Marvel Studs proudly announced that 2019 they had troduced their first gay character the Marvel Cematic Universe, only to have fans fd out that was an unnamed character one scene played by the movie's straight -director. MacGregor, played by Jack Whehall, was supposed to be Disney's "first major gay character" when Jungle Cise was set to be released way back 2019, but bee of the global panmic, the film was layed until 2021.

Artie is one of several characters advertised as the pany's "first major gay character" after both LeFou Bety and the Beast and MacGregor the layed-for-several-years Jungle Cise. After news broke that Disney not only donated to legislators backg anti-gay bills, but also repeatedly cut queer ntent om their movi, Pixar cid to rtore a scene the Lightyear film where a female character named Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba) kiss her female partner.