# Disney Gets More Progressive By The Day re: Homosexuality **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 1, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144 "2017-03-01T23:46:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2017, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/1 "2017-03-01T23:46:43Z")
Interesting - in one of my favorite cartoon series, Disney XD’s _Star vs. The Forces of Evil_, a recent episode featured gay couples kissing, which is apparently a first for the company: > **[Disney airs its first gay kissing scene in Star vs the Forces of Evil ](https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-4270734/Disney-airs-gay-kissing-scene.html)** > > In an episode of Star vs the Forces of Evil which aired on channel Disney XD a gay couple can be seen sharing a kiss for this first time in the company's history. This comes a couple of years after another Disney XD show (and another favorite of mine) _Gravity Falls_ featured a canonically gay couple - who hugged but who did not kiss. Seems to me a bit of a sign of the times - if a major and reasonably conservative corporation like Disney can sees value in creating shows for (admittedly older) kids that apparently completely normalize gay relationships, normalization in society at large is pretty well a done deal, despite the existence of homophobic hold-outs. It is just another sign that the inflection point has been reached on this subject. As an aside, the show _Star vs. the Forces of Evil_ just had its season finale, which was awesome, and has been renewed for two more seasons. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/2 "2017-03-02T00:29:53Z")
Was it a male or female couple? Female homosexuality generally gets a lot more depiction in the media than male. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/3 "2017-03-02T00:38:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Was it a male or female couple? Female homosexuality generally gets a lot more depiction in the media than male. Both, apparently, although the article highlights the male couple more. ---
**Author:** ![Roderick\_Femm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/roderick_femm/32/14875_2.png) [@Roderick\_Femm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Roderick_Femm)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/4 "2017-03-02T00:44:11Z")
My reaction to this news is, that’s great. It was 60 years ago that I was 7 and that I first realized that I was one of those shameful people that no-one wants to talk about. If this change at Disney and other producers of children’s content means that other kids won’t have to feel that way, I’m all for it. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/5 "2017-03-02T01:35:57Z")
I thought this was going to be about [reports](http://www.eonline.com/news/832914/josh-gad-s-lefou-is-gay-in-disney-s-live-action-beauty-and-the-beast) that LeFou (Gaston’s sidekick/flunky) in the live action _Beauty & the Beast_ remake will be overtly gay: > [@E! News](#): > > In Attitude’s April issue, director Bill Condon reveals LeFou (Josh Gad) has a small but significant subplot amid all the song and dance numbers. “LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston (Luke Evans). He’s confused about what he wants. It’s somebody who’s just realizing that he has these feelings,” Condon says. “And Josh makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And that’s what has its payoff at the end, which I don’t want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie.” I guess we’ll have to see how “progressive” this really is, though. In the animated movie LeFou is, if not especially villainous himself, definitely not one of the Good Guys, and is also weak and toadying. He could all too easily be turned into one big gay joke. It may very well be that the live action remake gives the character more depth, though. ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/6 "2017-03-02T01:46:26Z")
> [@Lamia](#): > > I thought this was going to be about [reports](http://www.eonline.com/news/832914/josh-gad-s-lefou-is-gay-in-disney-s-live-action-beauty-and-the-beast) that LeFou (Gaston’s sidekick/flunky) in the live action _Beauty & the Beast_ remake will be overtly gay: > I guess we’ll have to see how “progressive” this really is, though. In the animated movie LeFou is, if not especially villainous himself, definitely not one of the Good Guys, and is also weak and toadying. He could all too easily be turned into one big gay joke. It may very well be that the live action remake gives the character more depth, though. Given that Condon is gay and has a track record of conveying gay identity with nuance and sensitivity (_Kinsey_, his Oscar-winning **Gods and Monsters** ), I’m not worried too much about that at all. May be the most interesting part of what I find a tiresome new trend from the mouse (the live action refurbishing of their cartoon canon). ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/7 "2017-03-02T03:53:26Z")
The most obvious interpretation is that LeFou will have an explicit crush on Gaston, and that will blind him to how bad he is. Disney, of course, is giving more dimension to their villains, so it’s possible that Gaston will be redeemed. If not, I’d expect LeFou to find someone else, as that’s how the trope usually works if it’s a hetero relationship. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/8 "2017-03-02T06:01:45Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Interesting - in one of my favorite cartoon series, Disney XD’s _Star vs. The Forces of Evil_, > > As an aside, the show _Star vs. the Forces of Evil_ just had its season finale, which was awesome, and has been renewed for two more seasons. Hmmm…have to check it out. Disney does occasionally produce good adult/kid crossover appeal cartoons. I thought Gravity Falls was pretty entertaining ( 'course I think Kristen Schaal is awesome at any and all voice work ). What would you compare it to? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/9 "2017-03-02T06:07:07Z")
Please. Some of us recognized Le Fou’s hopeless crush on Gaston even back in the animated film. Subtle don’t enter into it! ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/10 "2017-03-02T08:59:51Z")
I think a blind crush on a charismatic personality is not predicated on sexual orientation. I’m uncertain if they will explicitly say LeFou is gay, and instead will likely just have an obvious man-crush. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/11 "2017-03-02T11:41:22Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Disney, of course, is giving more dimension to their villains, so it’s possible that Gaston will be redeemed. If not. So far, it seems like the remake is so scene-for-scene, momemt-for-moment similar to the original that the whole thing is profoundly, incredibly pointless to make. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/12 "2017-03-02T15:27:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Was it a male or female couple? Female homosexuality generally gets a lot more depiction in the media than male. Both. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/13 "2017-03-02T15:38:25Z")
They already showed a gay couple (briefly) in _Frozen_. The male shopkeepers partner was also male. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/14 "2017-03-02T15:54:24Z")
> [@Tamerlane](#): > > Hmmm…have to check it out. Disney does occasionally produce good adult/kid crossover appeal cartoons. I thought Gravity Falls was pretty entertaining ( 'course I think Kristen Schaal is awesome at any and all voice work ). What would you compare it to? Somewhat like a cross between Gravity Falls and Rick and Morty. At first, it appears as basically a light comedy. The first season is reasonably light, episodic, and silly. Then it gets darker. Much, much darker, and much more emphasis on the overarching plot. It is a sort of deconstruction of “princess” and “magical girl” tropes. The lead character is a princess from another dimension and heir to the throne of her kingdom who has been given, as is traditional there, a powerful magic wand - but she is dangerously reckless with it. So her parents exile her to Earth, so that of she does any damage, it will be to Earthlings and not her own nation. Naturally, there are some bad guys - monsters - who are out to steal her wand. In the first couple of episodes, it appears the show will have a standard recurring plot - the monsters try to steal her wand, and with the help of her Earth friend Marco, she easily kicks their asses. The monsters appear essentially cute, ineffectual and harmless, lead by a diminutive villain who is hopelessly outclassed. However, this is merely the background set up for the actual storyline. Nothing is as it appears. One of the central themes of the show is that appearances can be deceptive. [spoiler] While the lead character Star appears to be an excessively cute 14 year old girl, she is in fact genuinely dangerously reckless - and has been trained to kill from a young age, and has done so, frequently. Her family turns out to be more “Game of Thrones” than “Disney”. Moreover, they are fundamentally alien. This is highlighted when Star goes through an alien version of puberty - with horrifying results, somewhat reminiscent of the movie _Alien_. The monarchy she represents appears to be the “good guys” and the monsters the “bad guys”. Star has certainly been brought up to believe that, but it proves to be mostly untrue. Her people simply moved into the monster’s lands and massacred them, colonialist-style, when they attempted to resist. Star gradually comes to understand this. The apparent leader of the monsters is ineffective - but not all of them are. In the second season, the sufferings that Star puts that leader through are highlighted; he becomes a much more sympathetic - and terrifying - character. [/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/15 "2017-03-02T15:59:17Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > They already showed a gay couple (briefly) in _Frozen_. The male shopkeepers partner was also male. They showed a gay couple in _Gravity Falls_ as well. The difference in this case was that they showed gay couples engaged in public acts of affection - in that the gay couples were _publicly kissing_. As were a bunch of straight couples at the same time (the context was a romantic song at a concert). Apparently, gays publicly kissing is a first for Disney. In particular, the scene highlighted that these gays were considered no different from anyone else - just couples out enjoying a concert. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/16 "2017-03-02T16:22:26Z")
Heh, they are now being targeted by anti-gay groups. :smack: [https://onemillionmoms.com/current-campaigns/disney-airs-its-first-gay-kiss/](https://onemillionmoms.com/current-campaigns/disney-airs-its-first-gay-kiss/) ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/17 "2017-03-02T16:35:06Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Heh, they are now being targeted by anti-gay groups. :smack: > > [https://onemillionmoms.com/current-campaigns/disney-airs-its-first-gay-kiss/](https://onemillionmoms.com/current-campaigns/disney-airs-its-first-gay-kiss/) Not the first time. The SBC has been boycotting Disney since at least the 90s because of “Gay Days” at the parks. It hasn’t been noticeably effective. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/18 "2017-03-02T16:46:16Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > Not the first time. The SBC has been boycotting Disney since at least the 90s because of “Gay Days” at the parks. It hasn’t been noticeably effective. Nothing can stop the Mouse from making money. Particularly after they picked up the Star Wars franchise. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Scoobysnax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Scoobysnax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoobysnax)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/19 "2017-03-02T21:40:03Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > Heh, they are now being targeted by anti-gay groups. :smack: > > [https://onemillionmoms.com/current-campaigns/disney-airs-its-first-gay-kiss/](https://onemillionmoms.com/current-campaigns/disney-airs-its-first-gay-kiss/) I was going to say “I wonder what the million moms will say about this?”. I often go to their facebook page to see what they are offended by this week. The fact that there are only 89k members is particularly amusing. ---
**Author:** ![Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/marvin_the_martian/32/2898_2.png) [@Marvin\_the\_Martian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marvin_the_Martian)\ **Post date:** [March 2, 2017, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144/20 "2017-03-02T23:10:39Z")
> [@Scoobysnax](#): > > I was going to say “I wonder what the million moms will say about this?”. I often go to their facebook page to see what they are offended by this week. The fact that there are only 89k members is particularly amusing. They must be using the same headcount methods that Trump uses. I thought the Christian right issues with Disney goes way back (further than the “gay days” at the parks) - I seem to recall than Disney was one of the earlier large companies to extend benefits to same-sex domestic partners… [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/disney-gets-more-progressive-by-the-day-re-homosexuality/781144.md?page=2)