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.
Contents:
- EVERY SGLE “FIRST GAY CHARACTER” IN A DISNEY FILM
- 17 GAY AND LGBTQ DISNEY CHARACTERS – OM D TO NON TO TASTROPHE
- DISNEY'S 8 'FIRST OPENLY GAY' CHARACTERS, RANKED (BY HOW EMBARRASSED DISNEY SHOULD FEEL)
- HOW MANY TIM IS DISNEY GOG TO INTRODUCE ITS ‘FIRST’ GAY CHARACTER?
EVERY SGLE “FIRST GAY CHARACTER” IN A DISNEY FILM
"Jafar's orig story is that he's gay and pissed." * every gay disney character *
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.
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.
17 GAY AND LGBTQ DISNEY CHARACTERS – OM D TO NON TO TASTROPHE
Few Disney characters are explicly clared to be gay by the stud, but viewers have picked up on "gay dg." CBR explor. * every gay disney character *
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. " 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.
DISNEY'S 8 'FIRST OPENLY GAY' CHARACTERS, RANKED (BY HOW EMBARRASSED DISNEY SHOULD FEEL)
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.
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. And Stefanie Abel Horowz's "Let's Be Tigers" is more about grief and prsn than is about LGBTQ+ them, but do briefly feature a gay uple.
HOW MANY TIM IS DISNEY GOG TO INTRODUCE ITS ‘FIRST’ GAY CHARACTER?
Durg this long wa for the film's release, there was already signifint bate over the fact that Jack Whehall, a straight actor, was gog to play the film's "effemate" and "mp" gay character McGregor Houghton (per The Mary Sue). Charl Zeller, played by gay actor Jefey Bowyer-Chapman, is somethg of an outsir amongst the other doctors at Oahu Health Medil Center, havg e all the way om Chigo to work Hawaii.
Jok have been ma about beg awkward that the MCU's first gay black hero is someone who tak rponsibily for the bombg of Hiroshima, but even so, 's still a step the right directn for the mega-anchise.
At this pot the anchise's history, what might be most notable about lbian p Wendy Conrad (Atpo Thomas) is that she was able to be sually troduced whout any sort of big "first gay character" hype. It's not a lot, but 's as much of an "exclively gay moment" as LeFou has "Bety the Beast, " and 's nice to have a scene like this whout the overblown self-ngratulatory promotn that acpanied LeFou's gayns. "Better Nate Than Ever, " Tim Ferle's movie adaptatn of his own novel, was released on Disney+ April of 2022 — right at the height of the ntroversy over Disney's ial rponse to Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill.