Filmmaker David Thorpe examines Disney's history of associating gay men with villainy in Do I Sound Gay?, a 2014 documentary on the "gay voice." In the film's credits, Ashman's fellow filmmakers pay him tribute: "To our friend, Howard, who gave a Mermaid her voice and a Beast his soul, we will be forever grateful," the message read. So, to celebrate diversity in a time in which it is most desperately needed, here are 15 hidden LGBT characters in Disney films. The Little Mermaid's Ursula was based off Divine, which is something of a backhanded compliment to John Waters's muse. Forces that the prince cannot control turn him into a hideous creature. They pay a lot of attention to how they dress. Disney Pixar's Onward recently earned credit for finally advancing Disney's quality of LGBT representation, though that representation was still limited to a single character in a short scene who has no onscreen interaction with their same-sex partner. They are a cartoon, both literally and metaphorically, of what gay men are.". Are You Being Served? Director Bill Condon told the British gay magazine Attitude that Le Fou, the bumbling sidekick played by Josh Gad, would be portrayed as a gay man. Other shows on the streaming service do feature gay characters. Nico Lang is an essayist, critic, and national LGBT reporter. Travers, the queer creator of Mary Poppins, but unfortunately, This is especially noticeable considering how platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime have been leading the way in LGBTQ+ representation. When the two emerge from their hiding place, they begin to charge at one another and—following their collision—are enveloped in a giant mushroom cloud of smoke. There’s also a nameless character at the beginning of Endgame played by the film’s co-director Joe Russo, who talks about going on a date with another man in his support group. There is a definite lack of gay Disney characters but there have been many hints that characters are LGBT in previous movies. Two of the men are disgusted and flee the scene. "For decades, Disney films have reinforced the stereotype that gay men are bad because not only do they scheme and enact mischief upon the good characters, but they are also bad because they don't conform to cultural norms of gender," Thorpe explains in a phone interview. By . Certainly a Disney movie has never included the level of representation that The New Mutants is implied to have. 2. The PBS children’s show Arthur captured nationwide headlines and drew the consternation of many parents this year when it featured a same-sex wedding. But in truth, the Mouse House has a long and complicated relationship with queer representation. A more recent example is King Candy, the chief antagonist of Disney's 2012 homage to classic video games, Wreck-It Ralph. Streaming shows like Orange is the New Black, One Day at a Time, Shrill, Difficult People, Tales of the City, and Sense8 have featured of the best trans and nonbinary characters and actors on TV. Some of the most prominent series during this decade which features LGBTQ+ characters … Related: Disney’s Token LGBT Scenes Don’t Help Avengers Or Star Wars Pass Visibility Test In a recent Twitter thread, Hirsch compares his experience running Gravity Falls to that of Owl House showrunner Dana Terrace. Forcing the Mouse House back into the closet would erase its complex history at a time when the studio should be making greater strides to portray queer storylines with dignity and respect. LGBTQ shows on the Netflix streaming service have increased a lot in recent years with a growing number of new series featuring strong gay, bi, lesbian, and trans main characters viewers can relate to and learn from. Non-binary, pansexual, asexual, and graysexual characters are also included. The entertainment giant has b… He's the secondary villain—the squat, oafish sidekick to Gaston's uber-masculine hunk, one who lives vicariously through his best friend's sexual exploits. It’s a historic moment for Disney, which for years has been called out for its dearth of identifiably LGBTQ characters in its films. There have been more and more LGBT anime characters in … "The men are flamboyant. When it comes to TV, there’s Cyrus Goodman, one of the title character’s best friends on Andi Mack. Over the next five decades, Griffin says Disney would "[follow] a pattern in Western culture in general" of portraying LGBT people as villains and monsters. It’s not an excuse to say that Disney mostly makes family and children’s entertainment. Officer Specter isn’t the only LGBTQ character that Disney plans to introduce in ... an Emmy-nominated editor for “Key & Peele” and “Drunk History,” among other comedy shows, has died. Kurt Hummel and Blaine Anderson’s epic love story is one of the best TV romances of all time. "The men are flamboyant. More popularly known as the Hays Code, it prohibited "sex perversion or any inference." Trending pages SpongeBob SquarePants (character) Sanders, rumored to be bisexual, had won an Academy Award for playing a subtextually queer theater critic who blackmails Eve Harrington (Anne Baxter) into a marriage of convenience in All About Eve. LGBT kids deserve to grow up with queer Disney characters they can look up to and emulate, no matter what some theater in Alabama thinks. 7,111 Pages. In reaction to the news that Disney already has aired a cartoon showing two men kissing and is featuring a "gay character" in its upcoming Beauty and the Beast movie, Christian leader Franklin Graham said the Disney company is trying to "normalize" the homosexual lifestyle and "push the LGBT agenda into the hearts and minds of your children." Astute viewers noted that in Zootopia, aspiring police officer Judy Hopps lives next to a gay couple. Gay teen superhero, I know a lot of queer people who are excited to start watching Disney+, and I’m one of them. Although the portrayals are not always positive, characters like LeFou from Beauty and the Beast and Terkina from Tarzan add a hint of queerness to the storylines of many Disney films.. Griffin says that in 1937, a group of lesbians in Chicago threw a series of bashes known as "Mickey Mouse's parties." Disney Channel’s animated series “The Owl House” made history with the network’s first bisexual lead character. Disney has confirmed it has a bixsexual lead character on "The Owl House" series. Tinker Belles and Evil Queens: The Walt Disney Company from the Inside Out, PSA-style educational film shown in public schools, playing a subtextually queer theater critic, Watch the First Trailer for The Little Mermaid, Every Reaction I Had to Watching the Live-Action Beauty and the Beast, Here's How to Find the Beauty and the Beast Soundtrack, Disney's Live-Action 'Mulan' Has Cast Its Lead, Disney Premiers Eerie, Star-Studded Trailer for 'The Jungle Book' Remake. It has the Disney and Pixar films, the entire library of Disney Channel Original Movies, National Geographic, For instance, Valkyrie (played by bi actress Tessa Thompson), who appears in, When it comes to TV, there’s Cyrus Goodman, one of the, When it comes to non-recurring characters, the pickings are still extremely slim. image copyright Getty Images It can also give us the courage to come out, … 'Clifford the Big Red Dog' Becomes Second PBS Kid Series to Feature However, in recent years, the anime industry has looked upon the LGBT community and began to embarace it. Disney featured a lesbian character on Doc McStuffins for pre-schoolers two years ago. Officer Specter isn’t the only LGBTQ character that Disney plans to introduce in 2020. They're often very fastidious and pay a lot of attention to how they dress. Trending: Disney Channel just made a huge leap forward in LGBT representation. See also List of television episodes with LGBT themes. A TV show spinoff of Greg Berlanti’s teen film Love, Simon has also been announced, but there’s no airdate set, and when the live action Beauty and the Beast joins the platform, there will also be Lefou (Josh Gad), who danced with a man onscreen for one and a half seconds. During the climactic battle in which the villagers storm the castle, Le Fou becomes pinned to the ground, and despite his cries for help, Gaston doesn't come to his aid. While there's been much debate over whether Elsa, the tormented ice queen in Disney's Frozen, is a lesbian, a brief aside in the film shows that burly proprietor of Oaken's Trading Post has a husband and kids. Steven Universe even had a lesbian wedding episode, and this season She-Ra features nonbinary actor and activist Jacob Tobia playing a nonbinary shapeshifter. Recent blog posts Forum Explore. Blanca Rodriguez (Mj Rodriguez) is an HIV-positive trans woman who decides to form her own House, the community's term for a group of dancers, and she quickly finds herself with a new family. "One never knows when the homosexual is about," the PSA declares. Disney Pixar's Onward recently earned credit for finally advancing Disney's quality of LGBT representation, though that representation was still limited to a single character in a short scene who has no onscreen interaction with their same-sex partner. Griffin, though, asserts that Disney is "not a monolith." The word is used both as an umbrella term for the LGBT community and embodies a notion of difference. Still, that’s not nearly enough. Babylon 5 - Throughout seasons 1 and 2 a lesbian relationship is strongly implied between Talia Winter… Disney has confirmed it has a bixsexual lead character on "The Owl House" series. "He may appear normal, and it may be too late when you discover he is mentally ill.". Disney Channel’s Good Luck Charlie introduced a lesbian couple in 2014, and last year the company revealed that two characters from its Gravity Falls program were a gay couple. Is it surprising that most movies and TV shows with lgbt characters do very well in terms of viewership. Shows like, As more original content comes to Disney+ over the next few years, we’ll likely start to see more LGBTQ+ characters. Category:Disney Characters | LGBT Info | Fandom. Community. In Tinker Belles and Evil Queens: The Walt Disney Company from the Inside Out, he argues that even from the studio's earliest days, queer narratives were there for audience members willing to read between the lines. Some of your favorite Disney Channel stars are also proud members of the beautiful LGBTQIA+ community. When the bull sees the bouquet of daisies the bullfighter is carrying, he becomes too enraptured with their scent to do battle. Voiced by … Disney featured a lesbian character on Doc McStuffins for two! 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