All 10 Tim Disney Introduced Its First Openly Gay Character (and Gave Us Nothg)

If we had a nickel for every time Disney announced was troducg s "first openly gay character" a movie... * who is the first gay disney character *

— Brandon Hilton ⭐️ (@BRANDONHILTON) Augt 13, 2018"Wow, @Disney uldn’t fd ANY gay actors Hollywood to play the first openly gay character their new film?!?! You may be able to fd the same ntent another format, or you may be able to fd more rmatn, at their web a gay man I love the fact that Jack Whehall will play Disney's first openly gay character!

The real problem is there aren’t many out gay actors— Jam Leon (@JamLeon1) Augt 14, 2018"I actually don’t md Jack Whehall - he’s b of an overprivileged prick but he was very funny Bad Edutn. This unnamed man was the first gay character the Marvel Cematic Universe, while Phastos Eternals (2021) was the anchise's first gay superhero. "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.

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

On episo six of ‘The Other Two’ season three, Cary Dubek do the voice of a gay Disney character named Globby. It turns out ‘Big Hero 6: The Seri’ has a queer globby character already. * who is the first gay disney character *

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.

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. 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.

One of the most unnecsarily ntroversial moments on this list, Lightyear featur a gay kiss between a Hawthorne, a signifint character, and another woman. Photos of 8 Disney, Marvel characters who are gay, lbian or bisexualUSA TODAY lls 'Strange World' 'extremely morn'"Fans of pulpy 1930s and ’40s hero such as Doc Savage and Flash Gordon will dig the over-the-top actn vibe, yet “Strange World” is extremely morn s them. It taps to real-world issu of nservatn and staabily of natural rourc, and there’s a strong sense of cln – Ethan’s a biracial gay teen, Legend mak up for a missg leg wh boundls energy – and the most wele aspect is that 's all pretty normal.

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

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. * who is the first gay disney character *

Feels timid'"Ethan is the stud’s bajillnth 'first ever gay character' (and his fay is one of a few terracial fai all of Disney), but as progrsive as is, even that feels timid: His csh appears one scene at the begng of the movie, and apart om a short nversatn is not mentned aga — easily cut to appease the ternatnal censors that provi Disney wh so much of s revenue. )"Vulture: 'Ethan is Black and unmistakably queer'"That Strange World’s sendary hero, Ethan, is Black and unmistakably queer (no “exclively gay moments” here — he do some sweetly awkward flirtg wh his csh one of his earlier scen) is noteworthy. In rponse, the last few years have seen the stud attempt to tout var first “gay moments” and queer characters that for the most part were ’s a pleasant surprise that Ethan and his obv csh on his iend Diazo arrive wh mimal fanfare (pecially pared wh “Lightyear” and some Marvel stallments).

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

That’s a b of a stretch, bee this buddg romance is a si plot, referred to by a number of characters, but by no means a major topic of maybe that’s the pot — if ’s not a major plot pot, nor is a sneeze-and-you-miss moment like, for example, that quick glance “Bety and the Beast” 2017 that was herald as the first Disney “gay moment. Sure, some untri will lose their mds over there beg a gay character a Disney movie, which mak all the more urageo that producer Roy Conli emed time to expand the stud’s “Someday My Prce Will Come” ia of romance. "Hollywood Reporter: 'Strange World' character's sexualy is a fact of life"A particularly tenr sequence which Searcher meets Ethan’s csh, Diazo (Jonathan Melo), sets up, wh ltle fanfare, a historic moment for the nservative stud: Ethan is the first out gay teenager a Disney animated and Nguyen treat Ethan’s sexualy as a fact of life stead of a battleground on which he mt seek faial acceptance, a move that reliev Ethan of the banaly of beg an avatar.

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

"Deadle lists among 'Biggt Bombs' of 2022"Some might say Disney’s embrace of a gay character the film turned off red-state dienc, while crics found the fantasy pic to be clunky and prehensible, and the animatn retro and stale. ” Cary asks the execs, who adm that Disney has received “flak” for talkg up a character as gay the prs lead-up to a film and then “not really showg , ” a reference to a recurrg real-life Disney phenomenon.

One recent example is the much-hyped “exclively gay moment” the live-actn Bety and the Beast, where straight actor Josh Gad, playg LeFou, danc wh a woman and then danc for two sends wh a man a group shot of a lot of people dancg. It’s a classic Disney gay-fakeout, and the amount of tim people say “Glob” and “Globby” and sist that gay Globs like other Globs but straight Globs like “human women” mak sound like an I Thk You Should Leave sketch. While we never see the two of them bed together like Hnted Buddi 4’s unapologetilly gay moment, they snuggle up on the uch together, hold each other, watch trashy realy TV, and -parent a t.

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. There have actually been eight characters that were announced as a “first openly gay character” to varyg gre, and each got a lot of prs attentn. 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.

EVERY SGLE “FIRST GAY CHARACTER” IN A DISNEY FILM

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.

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.

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

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... 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. While the Walt Disney Animatn Studs have clud an LGBTQ+ character wh a productn around 17 tim, many are relegated to the “first gay character” a Disney film.

Allegedly, Judy Hopps two “noisy” antelope neighbors Zootopia (2016) prise Pixar’s first gay married uple, although the pair are never seen together a romantic sense. MacGregor discs his fay’s rejectn after he ref to marry bee his “terts happily lie elsewhere, ” and dienc are jt meant to unrstand that means he’s gay.

SAVE OR SPEND: WARDROBE PICKS FOR YOUR BUDGETOPEN MENUVIOSHOPCULTUREFAYWELLNSFOODLIVGSTYLETRAVELNEWSBOOK CLUBGMA3: WYNTKNEWSLETTERPRIVACY POLICYYOUR US STATE PRIVACY RIGHTSCHILDREN'S ONLE PRIVACY POLICYINTERT-BASED ADSTERMS OF USEDO NOT SELL MY INFOCONTACT USCOPYRIGHT © 2023 ABC NEWS INTER VENTUR. ALL RIGHTS RERVED.SEARCHCULTURE'ANDI MACK' MAK HISTORY WH FIRST DISNEY CHANNEL CHARACTER TO SAY 'I'M GAY'4:56'ANDI MACK' ST DISH ON NEW SEASON: 'IT MAK DIVERSY NORMAL'BYTONY MORRISONFEBARY 11, 2019, 5:06 PM•5 M READ"I'M GAY."JOSHUA RH, WHO PLAYS THE ROLE OF CYS THE H DISNEY CHANNEL SERI, "ANDI MACK," JT BEME THE FIRST DISNEY CHANNEL CHARACTER TO EVER SAY THOSE TWO WORDS. HIS PERFORMANCE AS CYS ALSO MARKS THE FIRST PORTRAYAL OF AN OPENLY GAY CHARACTER ON DISNEY CHANNEL.“TAKG ON THE ROLE OF CYS HAS BEEN ONE OF THE MOST FUN THGS I'VE EVER DONE MY LIFE," RH TOLD "GMA." "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 AFFIRMED.THE REACTN TO HIS CHARACTER G OUT?"OVERWHELMGLY POSIVE," HE SAID, ADDG THAT "OVER THE LAST FEW DAYS I'VE REALLY GOTTEN TO SEE THE MYRIAD OF WAYS THAT BOTH THIS NEW G-OUT SCENE FOR CYS, AND THIS JEWISH REPRENTATN OF HIS FAY, HAS AFFECTED THE FANS."ASHER ANGEL, PEYTON ELIZABETH LEE, JOSHUA RH AND SOFIA WYLIE STAR THE DISNEY CHANNEL'S, "ANDI MACK."MCH HAASETH/DISNEY CHANNELIN THE MOVG SCENE THAT AIRED LAST WEEK, CYS IS JOED BY HIS IENDS AT HIS GRANDMOTHER'S SHIVA, THE FIRST WEEK OF MOURNG OBSERVED BY THOSE OF THE JEWISH FAH FOR SOMEONE WHO HAS PASSED AWAY. CYS FDS 'S THE RIGHT TIME FOR HIM TO E OUT TO HIS BT GUY IEND, JONAH, PLAYED BY ACTOR ASHER ANGEL.CHECK 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 NOW.HERE'S ONE OF THOSE SCEN:"CYS HAS TGHT ME A LOT ABOUT BEG FORTABLE WH MYSELF NO MATTER WHAT OTHERS THK," RH TOLD "GMA." "I WAS BULLIED A LOT AT CYS’ AGE," HE SAID, "SO 'S SPIRG TO SEE HOW CYS KNOWS HE DON’T HAVE ALL FIGURED OUT YET, BUT HE ISN’T AAID TO ASK THE HARD QUTNS ABOUT WHO HE MIGHT BE AND WHAT THAT MEANS FOR HIM."IN A TWEET, RH SAID "EVERY DAY IS A BLSG" TO BE PART OF THE SHOW "ANDI MACK." CALLG THE LATT VELOPMENT WH HIS CHARACTER CYS, "A TONE."JONATHAN HURWZ, WHO WROTE THIS EPISO OF "ANDI MACK," ENTLED "ONE A MYAN," SHARED A BLOG POST PUBLISHED BY GLAAD THAT HE WAS DRIVEN OM PERSONAL EXPERIENCE TO WRE THIS EPISO AND DO RIGHT "AS SOMEONE WHO’S JEWISH, HAS ALT WH LONG-TERM ANXIETY, AND HAS E OUT TO HIS IENDS AND FAY.""IN THE WRER’S ROOM, I SHARED A PERSONAL STORY ABOUT HOW NERVO I WAS TO E OUT TO A LLEGE IEND BACK 2010. WHILE GRABBG BURGERS ONE AFTERNOON, HE ASKED ME TO PASS THE KETCHUP, SO I HAND HIM THE BOTTLE WHILE MUMBLG THE WORDS, 'I’M GAY.,'" HURWZ WROTE. "HE LOOKED UP AT ME, SAID 'COOL,' THEN PROCEED TO PUT KETCHUP ON HIS BURGER AS IF I HADN’T JT REVEALED MY MOST PERSONAL, EPT TTH. I REMEMBER THKG: THAT’S ?! AFTER A TEN-YEAR JOURNEY TO E OUT TO MYSELF, I FALLY E OUT TO MY IEND AND ALL I GET IS A 'COOL?!' BUT WHAT I ULTIMATELY REALIZED WAS THAT MY IENDS AND FAY LOVED ME UNNDNALLY BEFORE I’D EVEN LEARNED TO TLY LOVE MYSELF."HURWZ WROTE THAT HE ED HIS EXPERIENCE TO CRAFT CYS' G OUT STORYLE TO JONAH."IN SPE OF CYS' NERV ABOUT TELLG BUFFY, ANDI, AND NOW JONAH, HE NTUALLY UNRTIMAT HOW MUCH PEOPLE ACCEPT HIM FOR WHO HE IS," HE WROTE. "NO MATTER HOW 'WEIRD' OR 'DIFFERENT' HE FEELS (HIS WORDS OM SEASON ONE), HIS IENDS WILL ALWAYS BE RIGHT BY HIS SI, LOVG AND SUPPORTG HIM."SOFIA WYLIE, PEYTON ELIZABETH LEE, JOSHUA RH AND ASHER ANGEL STAR THE DISNEY CHANNEL'S, "ANDI MACK."FRED HAY/DISNEY CHANNELFOR MANY, THE PROCS OF G OUT IS AS TERRIFYG AS IS EXHILARATG. THAT PROCS IS UNIQUE AND DIFFERENT FOR EVERYONE, AND IS SOMETIM MET BY REJECTN AND EVEN VLENCE. ACRDG TO BROCK DUMVILLE, M.P.H. AND SENR CRISIS SERVIC MANAGER FOR THE TREVOR PROJECT, "THE BT WAY TO SUPPORT YOUR IEND WOULD BE TO CELEBRATE THEM FOR MAKG CHOIC THAT FEEL HEALTHY FOR THEM, CLUDG IF THAT IS CHOOSG NOT TO E OUT."THE TREVOR PROJECT IS A NATNAL ANIZATN PROVIDG CRISIS TERVENTN FOR LGBTQ+ YOUTH UNR 25. VIS THE TREVOR PROJECT'S "COMG OUT AS YOU" ROURCE PAGE FOR MORE."ANDI MACK" AIRS FRIDAY NIGHTS AT 8/7C ON THE DISNEY CHANNEL.DISNEY IS THE PARENT PANY OF ABC NEWS AND "GOOD MORNG AMERI."UP NEXT CULTURE—LUPA NYONG'O REMEMBERS CHADWICK BOSEMAN EMOTNAL TRIBUTE 3 YEARS AFTER HIS ATHAUGT 28, 2023MILEY CYS ON HOW HER PERSPECTIVE ON FAME AND SUCCS IS DIFFERENT OM HER DADAUGT 28, 2023KHLOE KARDASHIAN SHAR SWEET PHOTO WH HER 2 KIDS: 'MOMMY'S CUBS'AUGT 28, 2023'DANCG WH THE STARS' JUDGE DEREK HOUGH MARRI HAYLEY ERBERTAUGT 28, 2023UP NEXT CULTURE—LUPA NYONG'O REMEMBERS CHADWICK BOSEMAN EMOTNAL TRIBUTE 3 YEARS AFTER HIS ATHAUGT 28, 2023MILEY CYS ON HOW HER PERSPECTIVE ON FAME AND SUCCS IS DIFFERENT OM HER DADAUGT 28, 2023KHLOE KARDASHIAN SHAR SWEET PHOTO WH HER 2 KIDS: 'MOMMY'S CUBS'AUGT 28, 2023'DANCG WH THE STARS' JUDGE DEREK HOUGH MARRI HAYLEY ERBERTAUGT 28, 2023

His major ntributn to Cella’s orig story the 2021 live-actn seems to be fulfillg a “sassy gay bt iend” stereotype and beg morally ambiguo at bt. Of urse, we n’t fet the honorable mentns om Marvel Studs and Star Wars, cludg Valkyrie, Phastos, Larma D’Acy and Wrobie Tyce (whose spl-send kiss spawned the “Live Slug Reactn” meme), and the famo Gay Joe Rso Avengers Endgame (2019), a man who talks for a few sends about his boyiend one scene. As one cric said at the time of “closeted gay fashnista” Ken: “Pairg homophobia wh misogyny, the jok about Ken suggt that the worst thgs a boy n be are eher a girl or a homosexual.

Disney faced more flak 2018 when Jack Whehall, a straight man, was revealed as playg the “hugely effete, very mp” gay man McGregor Jungle Cise. But when the gay actor playg Artie (John McCrea) took ownership of the character (tellg Attu an terview “to me ’s official: he’s queer“) the cricism didn’t really stick. It’s logil to assume the character is queer-d, for the film rri the DNA of the late lyricist Howard Ashman, who was gay, and whose magil songs, cludg A Whole New World, were creded wh reversg Disney’s wang fortun the 80s/90s.

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.

All 10 Tim Disney Introduced Its First Openly Gay Character (and Gave Us Nothg)

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DISNEY JT CAST ITS FIRST OPENLY GAY MOVIE CHARACTER, BUT THERE’S A CATCH

WHY THERE ARE SO MANY “FIRST” GAY DISNEY CHARACTERS

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'