17 gay and LGBTQ Disney characters - om d to non to tastrophe - Attu

Contents:

• DISNEY'S 8 'FIRST OPENLY GAY' CHARACTERS, RANKED (BY HOW EMBARRASSED DISNEY SHOULD FEEL)
• DISNEY'S ACTUAL 'FIRST GAY CHARACTER' HAS BEEN FOTTEN ABOUT
• RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON — THE FIRST GAY DISNEY PRCS?
• DISNEY ANNOUNC 'PRC,' FIRST FILM WH OPENLY GAY CHARACTERS.
• HOW MANY TIM IS DISNEY GOG TO INTRODUCE ITS ‘FIRST’ GAY CHARACTER?
• BRS ARE BACKG A GAY DISNEY PRCS SO HERE'S WHY IT'S GOTTA HAPPEN ASAP
• 17 GAY AND LGBTQ DISNEY CHARACTERS – OM D TO NON TO TASTROPHE
• ALL 10 TIM DISNEY INTRODUCED ITS FIRST OPENLY GAY CHARACTER (AND GAVE US NOTHG)
• ARE WE READY FOR A GAY DISNEY PRCS? WE MAY BE CLOSER THAN YOU THK.
• KELLY MARIE TRAN SAYS HER DISNEY PRCS, RAYA, IS GAY - INSI THE MAGIC
• RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON’S KELLY MARIE TRAN THKS HER DISNEY PRCS IS GAY
• FROZEN’S QUEEN ELSA MAY BEE THE FIRST GAY DISNEY PRCS

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

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.

DISNEY'S ACTUAL 'FIRST GAY CHARACTER' HAS BEEN FOTTEN ABOUT

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. Marvel's first gay superhero and the first married gay uple the MCU both happened 2021, which was que the year for "First Gays" for the pany.

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.

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).

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON — THE FIRST GAY DISNEY PRCS?

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. 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.

DISNEY ANNOUNC 'PRC,' FIRST FILM WH OPENLY GAY CHARACTERS.

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).

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

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. 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.

BRS ARE BACKG A GAY DISNEY PRCS SO HERE'S WHY IT'S GOTTA HAPPEN ASAP

" 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. 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.

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

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.

Those who know the ics will read this as dg Ameri as gay, but there's jt enough ambiguy that others uld see as jt a show of support for her parents.

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

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. Their kiss was rtored to the film followg staff protts over Disney's handlg of the "Don't Say Gay" bill and overall censorship of LGBTQ+ ntent. 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.

ARE WE READY FOR A GAY DISNEY PRCS? WE MAY BE CLOSER THAN YOU THK.

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... Pixar featured a gay ma character a short film on Disney Pl, but Luz is the first bisexual character to make a Disney but on a televisn seri. In as much as Artie n make any real "first" claim, 's bee he at least has more scen than Spectre Onward, who at least had a name unlike the gay guy Avengers: Endgame, whose inty was at least ls ambiguo than Lefou's the 2017 Bety and the Beast, and so on and so forth the list of Disney's bare-mimum "firsts.

KELLY MARIE TRAN SAYS HER DISNEY PRCS, RAYA, IS GAY - INSI THE MAGIC

Amidst this cycle of unrwhelmg rporate hype, seems as if people have fotten who Disney's actual "first gay character" was, assumg they were even aware he existed the first place.

RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON’S KELLY MARIE TRAN THKS HER DISNEY PRCS IS GAY

Don't go to The Prcs Diari 2 expectg some sort of masterpiece of reprentatn or queer cema; the gay ntent is as mimal as that most of the films ught the "Disney's first gay character" hype cycle.

Unls you unt a lbian uple appearg the background of Toy Story 4, this might be the only direct reference to beg gay a G-rated movie ever, which is all the more imprsive given the MPAA's reputatn for ratg gay ntent more harshly than equivalent straight ntent. Mia's reactn is also a stronger gay rights statement than most of Disney's other "exclively gay moments" movi (Disney's TV seri and streamg programs have notably been a lot more LGBTQ-iendly than s movi have been).

FROZEN’S QUEEN ELSA MAY BEE THE FIRST GAY DISNEY PRCS

Disney’s upg Cella, a live-actn orig story for the inic antagonist of 101 Dalmatians, is beg praised for featurg Disney’s first gay character.

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.

But was still only one mor character, and many Disney fans were left hungry for you ask me, Lefou was clearly gay and tot cshg on Gaston the OG edn of Bety and the Beast.