On March 1, Attitude Magazine reported that the upcoming live-action remake of the film Beauty and the Beast would feature Disney’s first LGBTQ character, and the following day, Mashable reported that Disney’s digital cable channel had showed its first same-sex kiss on the children’s cartoon Star vs. the Forces of Evil. Right-wing and white nationalist media organizations responded by blaming the “faggot agenda,” creating a “boycott petition” against the film, and saying Disney is attempting to “indoctrinate American children.”
“Tinker Bell’s Torrid Lesbian Affair”: Right-Wing Media React To LGBTQ Diversity In Disney
Written by Katherine Hess
Published
Disney Recently Featured Its First Same-Sex Kiss And Announced Its First Gay Character
Beauty And The Beast Will Make History With Disney’s First Gay Character. The live-action film version of Beauty and the Beast will feature Disney’s first gay character. In the April issue of Attitude, the film’s director, Bill Condon, confirmed that the character LeFou, played by Josh Gad, is “set to feature in a small but significant subplot of his own when it comes to his sexuality” and that the film would feature a “nice, exclusively gay moment.” From Attitude’s March 1 web post:
Disney’s live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast has quickly become one of the most eagerly anticipated movies in history, smashing records when its first trailer racked up more than 127 million views in just 24 hours last November.
While the reimagined romantic classic, featuring Emma Watson and former Downton Abbey star Dan Stevens, might seem like the ultimate celebration of heterosexual love, it’s actually harbouring a treasure trove of gay secrets – and is set to make history with Disney’s first ever “exclusively gay moment” on film.
As Emma and Dan sit down with Attitude for our brand new April issue – available to download now and in shops today (March 1) – director Bill Condon reveals the heartbreaking true story that helped shape the 1991 film, and how it inspired him to create a character who would break new ground when it comes to LGBT visibility on screen.
Played by US actor Josh Gad, the character of LeFou serves as the sidekick to the film’s primary antagonist Gaston (Luke Evans), and is set to feature in a small but significant subplot of his own when it comes to his sexuality.“LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston,” reveals Condon.
“He’s confused about what he wants. It’s somebody who’s just realising that he has these feelings. 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.” [Attitude, 3/1/17]
A Disney XD Show Recently Aired The First Same-Sex Kiss In A Disney Cartoon. During February 23 episode of the show Star vs. the Forces of Evil, which airs on the Disney XD digital cable channel, multiple same-sex couples were shown kissing in “the first-ever same-sex kiss in a Disney cartoon,” according to Mashable. Mashable noted that “Disney has made strides towards increased inclusivity in the past” by including same-sex characters, but that this was the first kiss. From the February 27 report:
In “Just Friends, Season 2, episode 39, the main characters attend a concert where they're serenaded by a charismatic boy band. Everyone in the audience is overwhelmed by the sheer romance of the song ”Just Friends" and they start kissing.
In the background, around 1:29, you can see two male-appearing characters participate in the appropriate-for-kids love fest.In a later scene, there's a number of couples surrounding the main characters, at least one of which is a female same-sex couple.
This episode marks the first-ever same-sex kiss in a Disney cartoon, though Disney has made strides towards increased inclusivity in the past by including a same-sex couple in Gravity Falls, as well as same-sex parents in Good Luck Charlie. [Mashable, 2/27/17]
Right-Wing And White Nationalist Media Outlets Attack Disney For “Indoctrinating” Children Into “Homosexuality”
Fox News’ Todd Starnes: Same-Sex Kiss Is Part Of The “LGBTQIA Agenda” To “Indoctrinate American Children.” Fox News contributor Todd Starnes attacked the same-sex kiss in Star vs. the Forces of Evil and the “gay storyline” in the upcoming Beauty and the Beast as “pro-gay activism,” calling it “unfortunate -- that we live in a society where kids can no longer be kids.” Starnes also predicted that future Disney films might feature “Tinker Bell’s torrid lesbian affair with Snow White.” From Starnes’ March 1 column:
Disney’s pro-gay activism has lots of moms and dads across the fruited plain wondering what in the name of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious is going on?
It’s unfortunate – that we live in a society where kids can no longer be kids -- but that’s the world in which we live.
But these days everything is about the LGBTQIA agenda. And when it comes to the entertainment industry, nothing is sacred in its quest to indoctrinate American children. Not even Disney.
So, don’t be too surprised if the next Disney animated classic documents Tinker Bell’s torrid lesbian affair with Snow White while a gender questioning Peter Pan crushes on Pinocchio who just got out of a long-term relationship with one of the seven gender-fluid dwarfs. [Fox News, 3/1/17]
White Nationalist And Neo-Nazi Website The Daily Stormer Blames The “Faggot Agenda,” “Christ-Killers,” and “Jews” for “Destroying Disney.” Neo-Nazi and white nationalist website The Daily Stormer urged readers to boycott Disney for featuring “fag couples kissing for the first time.” The article also accused the “Jews” of causing Disney to “go from white, straight princesses to dirty lesbian ones.” The post showed a photo of the children’s cartoon with the caption “Spot the interracial lesbians!” From the March 1 post:
If you know what’s good for your child and others – boycott Disney!
[...]
Christ-Killers destroyed Disney. Since taking it over they have only ever used the company to further push their degeneracy and corrupt minors.
[...]
Call me paranoid, but it’s very obvious what these Jews are doing.
We are going to go from white, straight princesses to dirty lesbian ones and we are all just supposed to smile and be happy about this.
We are supposed to be happy that these filthy mongrels are putting out content that feeds into and spreads mental illness and destroys white societies.
Disney is beginning to push the faggot agenda so hard they have has also put a gay scene in the new Beauty and The Beast film. [The Daily Stormer, 3/1/17]
Glenn Beck Twitter Poll Asks Parents If They Will Still Take Kids To See Beauty And The Beast. On March 1, right-wing media personality Glenn Beck tweeted a poll asking if parents would take their kids to see the new Beauty and the Beast knowing that the live-action film features “Disney’s first openly gay character”:
The new 'Beauty and the Beast' features Disney's first openly gay character. Will you take your kids to see it?
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) March 2, 2017
[Twitter, 3/2/17]
LifeSiteNews Launches Petition: “Tell Disney 'NO' To LGBT Agenda In Beauty And The Beast.” Anti-abortion media outlet LifeSiteNews launched a petition asking users to say “NO” to what it called the “LGBT agenda in Beauty and the Beast.” As of 3:30 p.m. March 3, the petition had over 54,000 signatures. From the March 2 petition:
In recent years Disney has come under increasing pressure from LGBT activists to promote their agenda in their kids films, including a campaign to make Elsa from “Frozen” a lesbian.
With the highly-public announcement that Beauty and the Beast will include a explicitly “gay” moment, Disney appears to have caved to this pressure.
Send a strong message to Disney that children's entertainment is no place to promote a harmful sexual political agenda. Sign the boycott petition. [LifeSiteNews, 3/2/17]
One Million Moms: “Alerting All Parents!” A Disney Show “Subtly Displayed Several Gay Kisses.” The anti-LGBTQ group One Million Moms posted an alert on its website advising readers that the Disney XD show had “subtly displayed several gay kisses” and calling for readers to sign a petition telling Disney that they “do not agree with the LGBT agenda” Disney is “pushing on families and children.” From the March 1 post:
Alerting all parents! In a first for the Disney Channel, a Disney XD show subtly displayed several gay kisses in an episode that aired a couple of days ago.
[...]
There’s also word the new “Beauty and the Beast” will include a gay storyline – between LeFou and Gaston. “LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston. He’s confused about what he wants,” director Bill Condon told Attitude magazine. “It is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie,” Condon added.
This is the last place parents would expect their children to be confronted with content regarding sexual orientation. Issues of this nature are being introduced too early and too soon, and it is becoming extremely common and unnecessary.
Disney has decided to be politically correct versus providing family-friendly entertainment. Disney should stick to entertaining instead of pushing an agenda. Conservative families need to urge Disney to avoid mature and controversial topics. [One Million Moms, 3/1/17]
MRC TV: “If You’re Not Going To Teach Your Young Children About Homosexuality, … Disney Has No Problem Indoctrinating Them For You.” On March 1, the right-wing Media Research Center posted an article on its MRC TV website saying that the “tonsil-hockey going on between multiple same-sex couples” in Disney’s Star vs. the Forces of Evil was “indoctrinating” children. The report also wrote that “apparently, Disney thinks that every kiss begins with gay.” From the March 1 post:
Apparently, Disney thinks that every kiss begins with gay.
An episode of the Disney XD show, “Star vs. the Forces of Evil,” came out on Monday…literally.
During a scene in which the cartoon characters, both young and old, engaged in a locking of their lips while attending a boy band concert.
The part of the scene that is garnering attention, however, is the tonsil-hockey going on between multiple same-sex couples. Both a pair of gay males and lesbian females partook in the oh-so-romantic setting.[...]
Leave it to Disney to try and enlighten people’s children for them. I mean, if you’re not going to teach your young children about homosexuality, don’t worry! Disney has no problem indoctrinating them for you. [MRC TV, 3/1/17]