Are we ready for a gay Disney prcs? We may be closer than you thk. - The Washgton Post

Contents:

• RAYA AND THE LAST DRAGON’S KELLY MARIE TRAN THKS HER DISNEY PRCS IS GAY
• DISNEY ANNOUNC 'PRC,' FIRST FILM WH OPENLY GAY CHARACTERS.
• ARE WE READY FOR A GAY DISNEY PRCS? WE MAY BE CLOSER THAN YOU THK.
• BRS ARE BACKG A GAY DISNEY PRCS SO HERE'S WHY IT'S GOTTA HAPPEN ASAP
• DISNEY PRCS PROMOT "GAY RIGHTS" AT DISNEYLAND, GUTS DELIGHTED - INSI THE MAGIC

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

Ron DeSantis after spoke out agast the ernor’s so-lled “Don’t Say Gay” legislatn. Ron DeSantis, kickstarted by s public opposn to his so-lled “Don’t Say Gay” legislatn — which sought to lim sex and genr inty tn elementary schools.

But for the pany that started toutg s “exclively gay moments” a few years back, and whose characters have long been embraced by queer muni, Raya has felt for many like one step closer to the was eager to add that jt bee she terpreted the Namaari and Raya relatnship as somethg more than platonic, that wasn’t the official Disney le. ” Disney films have been tiptoeg around the perimeter of queer reprentatn for some time now whether be the “exclively gay” lisend of Bety and the Beast, a fleetg, sapphic background kiss The Rise of Skywalker, Thor: Ragnarok’s allegedly bisexual Valkyrie, Onward’s brief mentn of a female p’s girliend, or Elsa’s totally platonic iend Honeymaren Frozen II.

“There always had to be plsible niabily, wh the exceptn maybe of Bow’s two dads, bee other shows had been cludg gay parents.

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

Terrace didn’t exactly get the green light that easily at Disney: “I was sat down a nference room and told that I uld not, by any means, have any kd of gay storyle among the ma characters.

The latter is a term that dit a more cynil approach to teasg gay-iendly material orr to appear progrsive or queer-iendly whout, as Sugar puts , “alienatg their heteronormative dience or riskg ternatnal prof margs. The movie will feature a Black, gay superhero, as well as the first hearg impaired hero. The antelop next door were gay — viewers of the animated Disney h “Zootopia, ” ’s been a b of a gusg game.

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

The answer, available to sharp-eyed movie fans, the closg creds: Bucky and Pronk share a last name, gay and lbian characters are standard players movi and TV shows for adults, they rema a fleetg or barely acknowledged prence children’s week, a mpaign to change this ught fire on Twter, unr the hashtag #GiveElsaAGirliend — a plea to Disney to make one half of s beloved prcs duo a lbian the forthg sequel to s 2013 animated blockbter “Frozen. But advot note that almost every gdy prcs film or actn-packed superhero rtoon, there are relatnships — moms and dads, nts and uncl, prc and prcs — that, th far, have quietly rerced a very tradnal standard for romantic of "Frozen 2, " many fans are hopg creators give Elsa a girliend, makg her the first gay Disney prcs. But she isn't the only children's animated character fans have speculated about beg gay.

Some Disney fans argued on Twter that would have been a huge help for them to see gay characters movi when they were young — that they might have bee more sensive and acceptg towards gay peers, or better able to grapple wh their own sexualy. Studi have suggted that seeg gay characters popular entertament n crease prejudice towards those groups.

“There is no doubt that kids seeg posively portrayed gay characters uld have a signifint effect that would ntribute to such children’s learng about the world and who is , ” said Edward Schiappa, a profsor of parative media studi at the Massachetts Instute of dog so is a risk for children’s entertament pani, who have a fancial centive to make movi as wily accsible — and therefore as non-ntroversial — as possible. ”When asked if Disney might clu an explicly gay character a kids’ film, the pany rpond that s brand “has always been clive, wh stori that reflect acceptance and tolerance and celebrate the differenc that make our characters uniquely wonrful their own way.... In an episo of Disney Channel's "Good Luck Charlie, " one of Charlie's iends had two only explicly gay character a kids' movie me "ParaNorman, " an animated film om Laika, an pennt productn pany.

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

"“I knew was the first of s kd when I was wrg , ” said director Chris Butler, who is gay. ” Butler drew cricism om some nservative viewers that he had sentially tricked the dience to likg Mch before revealg he was says his tentn was to have every character the film subvert stereotyp: The bully turns out to be weak, the mean cheerlear be lovg, the jock is revealed as proudly gay.

“Of urse Fred was gay, ” Butler said.

”Pop culture geeks have long swapped theori about rtoonish characters who maybe-sort of gave off a gay vibe, cludg cross-drsg Bugs Bunny, high-pched-voiced SpongeBob SquarePants and bt iends/roommat Ernie and Bert. “Same Street’s” productn pany was even pelled to put out a statement on the latter topic some years ago: “They are not gay, they are not straight, they are puppets.

DISNEY PRCS PROMOT "GAY RIGHTS" AT DISNEYLAND, GUTS DELIGHTED - INSI THE MAGIC

”Tradnally shows meant for kids, even the characters whom their wrers tend to be gay almost never me out and said so.