A Brief Timele of Disney's 17 'First Gay Characters'

Contents:

• HAPPY PRI! THE ARE THE GAYT THGS DISNEY HISTORY
• 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?

HAPPY PRI! THE ARE THE GAYT THGS DISNEY HISTORY

Disney’s ntroversial rponse to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill unrsr the pany’s plited history wh the LGBTQ+ muny — a plex relatnship which Disney has played both champn and punchg bag. Earlier this month, Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke out about — but did not nmn — Florida’s ntroversial Parental Rights Edutn bill, which crics dubbed “Don’t Say Gay. Griff, who is also a profsor of film and media arts at Southern Methodist Universy, add that Disney has recently received a lot of publicy about var Disney films wh openly gay characters.

Even though Disney’s re product of fay-iendly entertament hasn’t been blatant s reprentatn of gay characters, ABC — which is owned by Disney — has done so wh TV shows like “Morn Fay” and “Ellen. Gay Days date back to 1991 and often brg over 150, 000 visors, acrdg to the Tampa Bay Days CEO Joseph Clark told USA Today his first vis 2008 still was "life-changg.

In 1995, the Los Angel Tim reported on a new Disneyland Lbian and Gay Uned Employe group, or LEAGUE, that planned to anize around LGBTQ issu, host gut speakers, and plan Disney-related projects.

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

Employe recently ma headl for their March 2022 walkout after former Disney CEO Bob Chapek's botched rponse to Florida's ntroversial Parental Rights law, which lims stctns about genr inty and sexual orientatn some classrooms, dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" law by Democrats and LGBTQ rights first, Chapek did not outright nmn the bill, leadg to employee outrage, acrdg to NBC about Disney's donatns to Florida Republin policians also sparked ntroversy, Poli reported. ] learship regardg the 'Don't Say Gay or Trans' bill have utterly failed to match the magnu of the threat to LGBTQIA+ safety reprented by this legislatn, " the employe said on a now-funct webse, acrdg to NBC walkout rulted a direct apology om Chapek to employe.

Acrdg to Out, Disney's often herald "first gay character" moments s films, wh some of the firsts datg back to an antelope uple 2016's "Zootopia" and LeFou dancg wh a man "The Bety and the Beast. ” Ever sce former CEO Bob Chapek cricized the ernor’s homophobic and transphobic Parental Rights Edutn Act — which forbids discsn of genr and sexual inty public schools — DeSantis and his supporters have repeatedly acced the entertament nglomerate of “echog Democrat propaganda, ” and engaged a vic legal battle over Disney World’s self-erng tax stat that’s proved a huge headache for the state. The public muty forced Disney to eventually reverse urse; first by rerporatg a cut gay kiss om the “Toy Story” spoff “Lightyear” ( lasted all of one send the end), and fally pullg fundg om anti-LGBTQ sponsors and cricizg DeSantis’ bill — which neverthels passed on March 28, 2022.

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

On one hand, queer subtext ns galore many of the films; gay Disney fans are a very real (and, let’s be hont, lucrative) phenomenon; and many of the most important creators the pany’s history are out and proud members of the LGBTQ muny. ” Disney executiv tend to be hant about featurg gay characters films orr to mata a nservative image — and marketabily untri wh homophobic censorship laws. The hight grossg film om the stud durg the ’90s — and s hight-grossg 2D animated film of all time — was 1994’s “The Ln Kg, ” which featured mic om venerable gay in Elton John.

This queer dg has been cricized by some scholars as homophobic, while others the LGBTQ muny have embraced the villa as a symbol of femist (and/or lbian) rage.