Who Is Disney's Real 'First Gay Character?' It's Complited

Contents:

• DISNEY'S 8 'FIRST OPENLY GAY' CHARACTERS, RANKED (BY HOW EMBARRASSED DISNEY SHOULD FEEL)
• OPEN MENUVIOSHOPWELLNSFOODCULTUREFAYLIVGSTYLETRAVELNEWSBOOK CLUBGMA3: WYNTKNEWSLETTERPRIVACY POLICY — YOUR US STATE PRIVACY RIGHTS — CHILDREN'S ONLE PRIVACY POLICY — INTERT-BASED ADS — TERMS OF USE — DO NOT SELL MY INFO — CONTACT USCOPYRIGHT © 2023 ABC NEWS INTER VENTUR. ALL RIGHTS RERVED.SEARCH'GMA' DEALS & STEALS TO TURN BACK THE CLOCKCULTUREFEBARY 11, 2019'ANDI MACK' MAK HISTORY WH FIRST DISNEY CHANNEL CHARACTER TO SAY 'I'M GAY'
• HOW MANY TIM IS DISNEY GOG TO INTRODUCE ITS ‘FIRST’ GAY CHARACTER?
• ALL 10 TIM DISNEY INTRODUCED ITS FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER (AND GAVE US NOTHG)
• POP QUIZ: WHO IS DISNEY'S REAL 'FIRST GAY CHARACTER?' IT'S COMPLITED
• HERE'S HOW 'STRANGE WORLD' TRODUC THE FIRST OUT GAY TEENAGER A DISNEY ANIMATED FILM: 'IT WAS A BETIFUL THG TO BE A PART OF'
• THE 8 FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTERS OF DISNEY
• ONWARD’S OPENLY GAY CHARACTER STILL LEAV DISNEY BEHD S PETORS
• DISNEY'S FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER 'DIDN'T GO FAR ENOUGH’ ADMS JOSH GAD
• ‘BETY AND THE BEAST’ TO FEATURE DISNEY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER
• CONGRATULATNS TO DISNEY’S 7TH FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER
• EVERY SGLE “FIRST GAY CHARACTER” IN A DISNEY FILM
• DISNEY FILM FEATURG GAY MA CHARACTER BOMBS AT BOX OFFICE
• DISNEY INTRODUC ITS FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER IN TOM HOLLAND'S ONWARD

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

Screenshot: DisneyArtie is never explicly picted as queer Disney’s new villa orig story, which ma all the hubbub that he was the latt “First” gay character at the stud all rather silly. That and the fact took three trailers for him to get a le of dialogue, but Whehall’s McGregor at least gettg a scene that humanized his relatnship wh his sister bee of the fact she didn’t abandon him for beg queer like the rt of his fay—even if the scene did dance around sayg the word “gay”—was actually pretty solid, if fleetg. It really do jt feel like yterday when we were promised the live-actn Bety and the Beast’s “exclively gay moment, ” only to be given Josh Gad dancg wh another man a ty agment of the film’s climactic dance sequence.

Ever sce John Boyega and Osr Isaac’s Fn and Poe swapped jackets and lip-b their way to the galaxy far, far away’s hottt ship this si of the In T-65 X-Wg, Star Wars fans have wanted to see some gays space.

Alas, after the Brothers Rso patted themselv on the back Endgame’s pre-release prs tours that they had brought the first on-screen explicly gay character to the MCU—after some fumbl along the way—we got...

OPEN MENUVIOSHOPWELLNSFOODCULTUREFAYLIVGSTYLETRAVELNEWSBOOK CLUBGMA3: WYNTKNEWSLETTERPRIVACY POLICY — YOUR US STATE PRIVACY RIGHTS — CHILDREN'S ONLE PRIVACY POLICY — INTERT-BASED ADS — TERMS OF USE — DO NOT SELL MY INFO — CONTACT USCOPYRIGHT © 2023 ABC NEWS INTER VENTUR. ALL RIGHTS RERVED.SEARCH'GMA' DEALS & STEALS TO TURN BACK THE CLOCKCULTUREFEBARY 11, 2019'ANDI MACK' MAK HISTORY WH FIRST DISNEY CHANNEL CHARACTER TO SAY 'I'M GAY'

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.

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

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. Comedian Jaboie Young-Whe will be voicg a new character the upg animated film Strange World who is volved "the first openly gay teen romance a Disney feature" acrdg to Twter er Matthiew Saghezchi, who saw a clip om the film at the Annecy 2022 ftival.

ALL 10 TIM DISNEY INTRODUCED ITS FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER (AND GAVE US NOTHG)

" "Beg Jewish, beg 14, gog to middle school, havg this small, close-kn group of iends, and beg gay are all jt parts of his personaly, " he reactn to his character g out? Cys fds 's the right time for him to e out to his bt guy iend, Jonah, played by actor Asher out the piece of Disney Channel history for yourself:Cys prevly me out to his iends Andi and Buffy two separate past episos of the show, but has never actually said the words, "I'm gay" until 's one of those scen:"Cys has tght me a lot about beg fortable wh myself no matter what others thk, " Rh told "GMA.

It’s a faiar tone for the pany, as Disney has pneered their “first” gay character at least 7 tim, give or take; Onward, Bety and the Beast, Jungle Cise, The Rise of Skywalker, Zootopia, Toy Story 4, and Avengers: Endgame all feature mor characters who make exceedgly subtle referenc htg at same-sex attractn. Ined, the pany has, on many ocsns, announced s "first openly gay character, " and proudly patted s back for seemgly takg steps at posive reprentatn and cln.

POP QUIZ: WHO IS DISNEY'S REAL 'FIRST GAY CHARACTER?' IT'S COMPLITED

Avengers: Endgame featur the first openly gay character the MCU — allegedly — but, aga, this character is not named and is only on-screen for a short amount of time. She mentns gog through a siar thg wh her girliend’s dghter — this le was censored multiple untri due to anti-gay legislatn, but still marked a slight improvement terms of reprentatn 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 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. 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.

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.

HERE'S HOW 'STRANGE WORLD' TRODUC THE FIRST OUT GAY TEENAGER A DISNEY ANIMATED FILM: 'IT WAS A BETIFUL THG TO BE A PART OF'

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. Disney faced a wave of backlash after donatg hundreds of thoands of dollars to backers of the "Don't Say Gay" bill Florida, a state where the pany domat polil power. This led to a rise “queer-d” characters, where the subtext impli a character may be Griff is a profsor of film and media arts at Southern Methodist Universy and the thor of "Tker Bell and Evil Queens: The Walt Disney Company om the Insi Out" — the first book to addrs the teractn between the Walt Disney Company and the gay muny.

For the past few s the pany has worked to appeal to the dienc whout upsettg other big dienc, like nservative Christian groups, but they’ve recently been tip-toeg along that le thanks to their stream of “first gay characters. "When we talk about the first gay characters, ’s easy to poke fun at how subtle they are, but remember how much plited history is behd moments like this.

"For her part, Unn not that her recent remake of Cheaper by the Dozen — which premiered on Disney+ March — featured one of Disney's first live actn gay teens (played by Caylee Blosensk), but says much of that storyle was downplayed the fished film. Both the 2020 animated feature, Onward, which featured Disney's first self-intified lbian character, and 2022's Lightyear, which featured the stud's first same-sex kiss, were banned Sdi Arabia and other Gulf natns where homosexual nduct is still illegal. 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.

THE 8 FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTERS OF DISNEY

" 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. 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. " 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.

ONWARD’S OPENLY GAY CHARACTER STILL LEAV DISNEY BEHD S PETORS

"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). 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. 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.

DISNEY'S FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER 'DIDN'T GO FAR ENOUGH’ ADMS JOSH GAD

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.

‘BETY AND THE BEAST’ TO FEATURE DISNEY’S FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER

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.

It was certaly odd timg for the release of a film that The Daily Beast scribed as "the most gay-posive and enuragg youth programmg that Disney has ever released. However, this isn't a se of Disney refg to "say gay, " but rather 's meant as a realistic portrayal of a young person still the procs of qutng and figurg out their inty.

CONGRATULATNS TO DISNEY’S 7TH FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER

Acrdg to The Los Angel Tim, Disney higher-ups were okay wh Alisha beg gay but gave phback on a brief moment where an elrly Alisha and Kiko kiss each other. Director Bill Condon scribed LeFou as someone “who wants to be Gaston and… wants to kiss Gaston, ” a nfed sikick who gets a payoff the form of “a nice, exclively gay moment. In the n-up to the ncln of the Marvel Cematic Universe’s long-nng ‘Infy Saga, ’ a report om Deadle Hollywood clared this film as one that “breaks ground on a cultural level, ” by troducg the first openly gay character a Marvel movie.

As an all-ag anchise patterned after classic movie serials and wholome faerie tal, the Star Wars galaxy is not known for romantic excement, least of all gay characters. One of many attempts by Disney to adapt one of s amement park ris to a movie, Jungle Cise featur Brish edian Jack Whehall as an openly gay character who mak mentn of his distert marriage to a woman bee his “terts happily lie elsewhere. Whether animators vertly add those gay moments, or ’s jt fans projectg, the bt-se scenar for Disney is to let LGBTQ muni celebrate potentially gay characters whout the pany havg to acknowledge their queerns.

Disney’s dience is huge, and unfortunately, clus vol homophob — both the Stat and ternatnal markets, cludg untri where beg gay n land you jail — as well as queer viewers sperate for reprentatn. Back 2017, director Bill Condon ma headl when he announced that his live-actn Bety and the Beast remake would feature “a nice, exclively gay moment” urty of Josh Gad’s LeFou. The obsequ sikick to Bety and the Beast’s Gaston had always been spected of admirg the swaggerg villa as more than jt a ra, but acrdg to Condon (who is openly gay himself), his versn of LeFou would be explicly cshg on Gaston.

EVERY SGLE “FIRST GAY CHARACTER” IN A DISNEY FILM

That “exclively gay moment” end up beg even more disappotg, however, when only amounted to some (by Condon’s own admissn) “subtle” flirtg, and a few sends of footage where LeFou and a man drag lli at a celebratn. Avengers: Endgame -director Joe Rso said that was so important to him that Marvel movi reflect the queer muny that he wanted to play the Marvel Cematic Universe’s first gay character himself.

” In this se, the sexual exploratn happens to be gay, while films like Never Been Kissed and 10 Thgs I Hate About You, which feature siar high-school sexual terrory, are still on the platform. Disney's live-actn remake of Bety and the Beast was promoted as havg the pany's first openly gay character the form of Gaston's sikick LeFou, but when the movie buted, many nsired him a lacklter example of reprentatn. It was never tend to be a moment that we should ld ourselv for, bee ankly, I don't thk we did jtice to what a real gay character a Disney film should be.

DISNEY FILM FEATURG GAY MA CHARACTER BOMBS AT BOX OFFICE

Televisn host Chris Parente tweeted to Gad, askg him to nfirm that the film would fact clu this “exclively gay moment, ” sayg that would “mean a lot to me, and gay kids everywhere. Wh the release of Disney’s Cella on the horizon and reviewers takg to social media after screengs, reports have surfaced that we are FINALLY gettg our very first openly gay character om Disney. First Out Gay Character In Disney History Reportedly In ‘Cella’ #ComgOut #cella #DisneyFans #EmmaStone #GayCharacters — Instct Magaze (@stctmag) May 22, 2021 This should be e for celebratn, but as you n see om that rat, Twter didn’t take too kdly to that headle bee, ankly, we’ve seen headl like this many tim before.

DISNEY INTRODUC ITS FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER IN TOM HOLLAND'S ONWARD

Take the last picture of a character your mera roll and ptn them wh “Disney’s First Openly Gay Character” Go — Skapokon ?️‍⚧️? (@Skapokon) May 23, 2021 Openly gay actor John McCrea plays the character, Artie, the fashn-obssed iend of Cella. So no, the actors aren’t the on who are out here clarg that a character is THE FIRST OPENLY GAY DISNEY CHARACTER IN HISTORY, that’s what certa news outlets are dog wh Cella.