Why There Are So Many “First” Gay Disney Characters

gay main characters in disney

Bob Chapek mentned Disney creatg "spirg" queer ntent when addrsg the pany’s supposed support of the ntroversial "Don’t Say Gay" bill. Here are all Disney’s official gay moments om movi and TV seri.

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DISNEY FILM FEATURG GAY MA CHARACTER BOMBS AT BOX OFFICE

"Jafar's orig story is that he's gay and pissed." * gay main characters in disney *

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.

Artie Cella is an openly gay character who teracts wh the ma character throughout the new movie that foc on Cella Vil om 101 Dalmatians. 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.

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

Although Disney mt ntue improvg s LGBTQ+ reprentatn, Jungle Cise is a clear step forward wh s first openly gay ma character. * gay main characters in disney *

Orka and Flix Star Wars Ristance are two openly gay characters who aren't human and are actually two different speci but are openly a relatnship the seri.

JUNGLE CISE: DISNEY’S FIRST GAY MA CHARACTER (AND COMG OUT SCENE) EXPLAED

The animated film follows a gay man’s journey to acceptance as he prepar to move to a cy wh his boyiend. * gay main characters in disney *

Jungle Cise hasn't technilly been released yet, but Disney has been clear that one of the major characters the movie, McGregor Houghton, will be gay.

17 GAY AND LGBTQ DISNEY CHARACTERS – OM D TO NON TO TASTROPHE

If you need a b of a reher, then you're luck! Here's a roundup of every "first gay Disney character" advertised a Disney film. * gay main characters in disney *

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. Before the live-actn versn of Bety and the Beast me out 2017, director Bill Condon announced an terview that one character would have a gay sp. 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.

HOW MANY TIM IS DISNEY GOG TO INTRODUCE ITS ‘FIRST’ GAY CHARACTER?

* gay main characters in disney *

Pixar jt released a new short, aptly tled Out, that foc on a young man named Greg who has a secret: he's gay, and he has a boyiend named Manuel.

PIXAR SHORT FILM ‘OUT’ FEATUR STUD’S FIRST GAY MA CHARACTER

It's easy to make fun of the many "first" gay Disney characters. But there is actually a good reason why they are each nsired a "first." * gay main characters in disney *

On the other si of thgs, creasgly vol homophobic and transphobic hate movements have attacked Disney for cludg any LGBTQ+ reprentatn at all (per CNN). Long before announcements about "Disney's first gay character" beme somethg of a meme, the first direct reference to a gay person a Disney movie om a somewhat surprisg source: "The Prcs Diari 2: Royal Engagement" 2004. " Rpons to the episo at the time were posive among the LGBTQ+ muny, wh GLAAD and queer former Disney star Miley Cys celebratg, while the far-right anti-gay group One Milln Moms protted the episo.

EVERY SGLE “FIRST GAY CHARACTER” IN A DISNEY FILM

"Out," a short film featurg Pixar's first gay ma character, was released Friday on Disney+ and follows "Onward" creasg Disney's LGBTQ reprentatn. * gay main characters in disney *

The 2017 live-actn remake of "Bety and the Beast" arrived wh signifint prs verage about featurg an "exclively gay" moment volvg Gaston's sikick LeFou, played by Josh Gad. Even this fairly mor gay reprentatn, however, was enough for the blockbter remake to be pulled om theaters Alabama and temporarily banned Malaysia.

Disney Channel had briefly featured gay romanc before, but wasn't until 2019 when Cys Goodman (played by bisexual actor Joshua Rh) on "Andi Mack" beme the first Disney Channel character to say the words "I'm gay.

Cys first out to his iends Buffy and Andi the show's send season, while the history-makg "I'm gay" le occurs the episo "One a Myan" om the seri' third and fal season. As such, Marvel Studs' first actual on-screen acknowledgement that gay people exist me the form of an unnamed character 2019's "Avengers: Endgame.

WHY THERE ARE SO MANY “FIRST” GAY DISNEY CHARACTERS

" Unnamed, non-speakg gay background characters alone, however, wouldn't qualify the show for this list — and while many queer viewers celebrated the genr nonnformy of male prcs Mar Diaz, Mar himself was never nfirmed to be queer. "High School Mil: The Mil: The Seri" featur two major gay characters who enter a relatnship wh each other: The choreographer Carlos Rodriguez (Frankie Rodriguez) and the actor Seb Matthew-Smh (Joe Serafi).

Liam is straight and don't reciprote his feelgs, but Bobby do strike up a relatnship wh a gay classmate, CJ (Donov Miller), before the end of the seri. Officer Specter, a cyclops p voiced by Lena Wahe the 2020 film "Onward, " is the first gay character wh a speakg role a Pixar movie ("Fdg Dory" and "Toy Story 4" prevly clud same-sex upl as background extras). Followg "Avengers: Endgame" and "Star Wars: Episo IX — The Rise of Skywalker, " many LGBTQ+ viewers were creasgly cril of Disney's assorted "first gay characters" om s var studs beg hyped up, only to turn out beg so mor that all the reprentatn uld be easily censored jt by changg one le.

Up until this pot on our list, most of the gay Disney characters promoted as the "first" of their kd uld still be clearly labeled as a specific "first" (first Disney character, first Marvel character, first "Star Wars character, " etc.

NEW SHORT FILM 'OUT' FEATUR PIXAR'S FIRST GAY MA CHARACTER

When "Cella, " a live-actn reimagg of the villa om "101 Dalmatians" as an antihero, was released 2021, there were headl that the fashn signer character Artie might be Disney's "first major gay character. " But while he was certaly more important than most gay characters Disney movi, 's batle if he unts as a "first" when LeFou had a siarly proment supportg role. The six-year-old ballet dancer at the center of Moxie Peng's "The Ltle Prce(ss)" might or might not grow up to intify as gay, trans, or non-bary, but the fact that the story's them are all about directly challengg toxic enforcement of genr norms, homophobia, and transphobia is enough to make f fortably the Disney+ "Pri" sectn.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* GAY MAIN CHARACTERS IN DISNEY

Why There Are So Many “First” Gay Disney Characters .

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