LGTB Disney characters

old lady

DIS Veteran
Joined
Mar 15, 2007
Is fanfiction the only way for there to be true, accurate, believable, LGBT Disney characters?
 
I don't think so. I think Disney has perhaps been a little slow to introduce LGBT characters but then ALL major media companies have been.

They have recently introduced a gay teen in the show Andi Mack which is fantastic news. I hope that eventually, they will be able to have the main character in an animated movie but I think it might be a little way off yet. I think there is still a lot of fear about including LGBT representation, especially when it comes to family entertainment because it comes with a lot of media attention and backlash from certain groups which might be what puts Disney off.
 
I guess it depends on what you mean by “LGBT Disney characters.”

Does Star Wars count? Because in Rogue One, Chirrut and Baze were pretty obviously gay. I don’t know anyone, gay or straight, who saw that movie and thought they were just good friends. Especially with the way their arc ended, their relationship was made about as explicit as could be expected for a pair of secondary characters.

Does Marvel count? Because they’re looking for a gay actor to play a leading role right now. That’s a pretty clear indicator that the role is that of a gay character. (Hollywood’s pattern of awarding gay and trans roles to straight and cis performers has become increasingly controversial; by looking for a gay actor Marvel would be avoiding this.)

If we’re just talking about a the animated movies, it might take a little while longer for them to feature a gay character in more than just passing. I think they’d want to “do it right” and actually portray a gay relationship rather than just have a major character have an off-screen same-sex love interest. Many Disney animated movies are fairy tales built around a romantic relationship, after all, but acknowledging that gay relationships exist is seen as more “adult” than acknowledging that straight relationships exist, for some reason. I think Disney knows it would cause a stir to have a gay or lesbian relationship in their “kid’s film.”

But times are changing. I think Disney really should know by now that they’ll never be able to satisfy the “One Million Moms” crowd. I know people who boycot Disney because of Gay Days, even though those aren’t organized by Disney. They simply wouldn’t be satisfied until Disney illegally banned gay people from the parks, which is…obviously a non-starter. So maybe it’s time Disney stop being worried about what those people think.
 
If you talk in the traditional, aimed at children, from SNow White to Frozen, I think it will happen, but it will take a long time and it won't be soon. It took a long time to introduce main characters with colored skin in Princess and the Frog (not counting Pocahontas & Mulan as these stories are about a non-white person). With Princess and the Frog they made the conscious decision to give the lead to an African American girl. While the original story is from the Brothers Grimm and could just as well have been set in Europe, like most fairytales, with a white princess.

I don't think Disney wants to do it right, and that's why it takes for a long time. They are too scared for the amount of backlash, loss in income, etc.
 


I’m excited to see what the next 10 years brings when I think about how drastically the world has changed in the last ten years. The younger generations seem so much kinder and more accepting and I hope that trend continues for generations to come.
 
Peekly & Jumba(My Favs), Shang Li, there was a character on Doc McStuffins, Lafoe, Rumoured includes Riley from Inside Out because she has male and female emotions vs the other characters don't, Elsa (only rumored)
 

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