Disney and lgbt representation
As a giant entertainment company that prides itself on creating “safe” and “family-friendly” content that can suit everyone, Disney the company and Disney as a conglomerate of artists are as unlike as night and day. When the news arose that the Disney executives gave money in support of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, I thought, “well, that’s not surprising” since Disney as a company has never been in support of explicit LGBTQ+ representation (and the irrelevant side character’s in the articles titled “X Disney character is gay” act not count), yet so much of Disney's recent media is shrouded in queer allegory and have fostered so much talent from members of the LGBT community. So, how could Disney betray the community whose members contributed to the company’s success?
Many of Disney Channel’s shows and movies in the early s can be generalized as the main character having to reside two separate lives out of dread of social repercussions (Hannah Montana, Lofty School Musical, and Camp Rock). High School Musical, for example, had an entire musical number called “Stick to the
20 Disney Characters Confirmed (Or Speculated) To Be Queer
As one of the top companies in its field, fans, critics, and the common look to Disney for leadership, observe the themes in its movies, and praise or criticize the company for how it reflects the world. Among the points of interest is how LGBTQ people and their concerns are represented. Following the times, and in a few cases leading them, Disney has had characters in its films that audiences contain perceived to be part of the queer community. However, some of these depictions have been more forward than others.
Few Disney characters are explicitly declared to be gay by the studio or its filmmakers, but viewers contain picked up on "gay coding," meaning characters exhibiting traits corresponding with LGBTQ. Aud Bool on the blog Prezi describes the term: "Coded gay is when a gay stereotype, 'gay behaviors' or 'camp' are used to mean that a character is homosexual while never explicitly stating that they are." This is often not seen as a positive rehearse. However, in some cases, viewers possess embraced Disney characters as bei
Disney just cant speak gay
In March , the Florida Senate passed the ‘Parental Rights in Education’ bill for the state, or as activists include called it, the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.
The law bears major similarities with Margaret Thatcher’s infamous Section 28 in the UK (introduced in ) and forbids schools from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity. Whilst Section 28 was thankfully repealed in , this new legislation is a cause of concern for LGBTQIA+ communities due to the impact it would have on queer youth.
President Joe Biden condemned the law, and Adj House Press Secretary Jen Psaki described it as a direct target on vulnerable children. However, The Walt Disney Company, which is very prominent in Florida, refused to condemn the law. Following the ‘Don’t Declare Gay’ announcement, CEO Bob Chapek sent an email to employees acknowledging the ‘inspiring’ content that Disney had produced, and promising to continue creating diverse content. Yet, it subsequently came to light that Disney had partially funded Republican express lawmakers through
Disney seemingly has a lot of gay characters. But if someone asked me what I thought of Disney&#;s first openly gay character, I&#;d only hold one thing to say: which one? ZING!
Disney is very fond of giving themselves a pat on the back for including the LGBTQ+ community in scenes of its major blockbusters. It&#;s become something of a meme in online spaces, particularly among queer TV/Film fans, who much like myself are unable to resist poking the billionaire company and it&#;s abysmal care when it comes to telling queer stories.
There&#;s an argument to be made that in reality queer fans shouldn&#;t care about Disney&#;s shit LGBTQ+ representation, and truly I understand it. But if there&#;s one thing I&#;ve learned it&#;s that no matter how much you point and shove people towards smaller &#;indie&#; LGBTQ+ creators, it won&#;t stop them from wanting better from the billionaire company they are ride-or-die for. It sucks, but that&#;s just how it is.
To further bully Disney in the hope of actually producing another movie that actually has great queer representation (hell