Disney’s ‘inspiring’ LGBT movie and TV moments is actually a short list

When news outlets reported that The Walt Disney Company donated money to legislators who supported Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Disney CEO Bob Chapek sent an internal memo to the company saying Disney would still “unequivocally” support its LGBTQ employees.

“I believe the best way for our company to bring about lasting change is through the inspiring content we produce, the welcoming culture we create, and the diverse community organizations we support,” Chapek wrote in the memo.

But while Chapek’s words might imply that Disney has a productive history of creating “inspiring” queer content, a group of Pixar employees penned a letter in response to Chapek’s statements, and specifically called out that line.

“We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were,” the letter reads. “Even if creating LGBTQIA+ content was the answer to fixing the discriminatory legislation in the world, we are being barred from creating it.”

Viewers have certainly come up with their own queer readings of Disney and Pixar stories alike, but it’s debatable whether the studio has delivered the “inspiring” content Chapek seems to think it’s using to help change the world. Below, we’ve laid out the milestones in Disney’s history of queer content.

2013. Oaken with his family at Frozen

Image: Disney

If Frozen When the footage was released, viewers were drawn to the short moment in which Oaken (a burly shopkeeper) says hello to his families. It shows what appears to have been a handsome blonde man with four other men sitting in a sauna. There have been no official statements from the filmmakers about this scene, however, so the character’s sexuality is unconfirmed.

2014: Susan and Cheryl at Good Luck Charlie

Image: Disney

Disney Channel’s first lesbian couple debuted onCharlie, good luck 2014 The couple appeared in one episode, when the Duncan parents invited them over, since they were the parents of the titular character’s good friend from daycare.

E claims that Disney spokesperson told TVGuide the following:

“This particular storyline was developed under the consultancy of child development experts and community advisors. Like all Disney Channel programming, it was developed to be relevant to kids and families around the world and to reflect themes of diversity and inclusiveness.”

February 2016 Sheriff Blubs and Deputy Durland, Gravity Falls

Image: Disney

You can find the Gravity Falls Series finale: It was revealed that the police officers characters were actually in love. They often exchanged affectionate words throughout series. Series creator Alex HirschHas stated that he wishes he could have more representation.

June 2016: Finding Dory and a Finding Dory couple

Image: Pixar

Two women care for their toddler together Find DoryThis sparked an audience debate about the authenticity of their lesbian relationship. USA Today received this reply from Andrew Stanton, director of the film and Lindsey Collins, producer.

“They can be whatever you want them to be,” said Stanton. “There’s no right or wrong answer.”

“We never asked them,” added producer Lindsey Collins.

“We have not asked that of any of the couples in any of our shots in any of our movies,” Stanton said.

Many have been curious about background partners in Pixar films, though they haven’t confirmed. These images are still common enough to be noticed by conservative groups.

2017: LeFou, Beauty and the Beast

Image: Disney

Attitude Magazine interviewed Bill Condon in 2017, a gay director who revealed that he was openly gay. Beauty and the Beast, Gaston’s henchman LeFou (Josh Gad) would have a crush on Gaston (Luke Evans). And he promised LeFou’s queerness would be reflected onscreen in a key scene.

“It is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie,” he said.

Within the movie, there are some lines that allude to LeFou’s crush on Gaston, and in the final dance number, LeFou and a strapping young man accidentally end up in each other’s arms for a brief second. Condon ended up retracting what he’d previously said about the character, telling ScreenCrush that it had “all been overblown.”

October 2017, Cyrus in Andi Mack

Andi Mack, Disney Channel’s live-action coming-of-age show, featured the first character in the channel’s history to come out. Friendly middle-schooler Cyrus had an emotional coming-out arc, which kicked off in the show’s second season, where he confided to his friend Buffy that he had a crush on their friend Jonah.

Two years after coming out, Cyrus also became the first Disney character to say the words “I’m gay” out loud, when Cyrus casually told another friend about his sexuality.

“Through Cyrus’ journey both in this episode and the series at large, I hope that audiences understand this — that we’re all worthy of being heard, seen, and loved by the friends and family with whom we surround ourselves,” wrote Jonathan Hurwitz, the scene’s writer, in a guest post for GLAAD.

April 2019: Joe Russo’s Avengers: Endgame cameo

Image: Marvel/Disney

The scene that marks the beginning Avengers: Endgame features Captain America running a support group for people who lost loved ones to Thanos’ finger-snap. A man, played by director Joe Russo, talks about how hard it’s been since losing his male partner, and how he’s tentatively planning to go on a date soon.

“Representation is really important,” Joe Russo said. “It was important to us as we did four of these films, we wanted a gay character somewhere in them. To ensure integrity and to show that it is important for the filmmakers to have one of us portray him, we felt that it was necessary that one of them play that role. It is a perfect time, because one of the things that is compelling about the Marvel Universe moving forward is its focus on diversity.”

December 2019: High School Musical – The Musical: The Series

Image: Disney Plus

Student director Carlos (Frankie A. Rodriguez) and farm boy Seb (Joe Serafini) go to homecoming together in the fifth episode of Disney Plus’ High School Musical: The Musical Series. They aren’t the only queer couple in the show — it’s also revealed that main character Nini (Olivia Rodrigo) has two mothers.

Carlos and Seb have a similar story to tell about their relationship.

December 2019, Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker: A Kiss

Image: Lucasfilm/Disney

2016. Right on the heels The Force AwakensJ.J. Abrams director stated that the ofCourseStar Wars will soon feature gay characters

“When I talk about inclusivity, it’s not excluding gay characters. It’s about inclusivity. So of course,” he said.

There were no queer characters in The Force Awakens Oder The Last Jedi. Three years later, however, it was still in Skywalkers are on the Rise, Commander Larma D’Acy (Amanda Lawrence) and her pilot partner (who gets a name in The Visual Dictionary: The Rise of SkywalkerThe film shows them sharing a moment of intimacy in the middle of a celebration scene. This interaction was cut for foreign release.

Onward, March 2020: Officer Spector

Image: Pixar

In Pixar’sMoving onOne scene shows Office Spector, the cyclops cop for Office Spector (Lena Waithe), mentioning her girlfriend. This scene was removed from the Russian movie. It also led to the film being banned in Kuwait Oman Qatar Saudi Arabia.

June 2020: Greg & Manuel Out

Image: Pixar Animation Studios

Out Steven Clay Hunter is the director. He wanted to tell a story about his personal experiences as a gay person. As the name might imply, this Pixar SparkShort focuses on one man moving out of his small town and into a big city, and coming out to his Midwestern parents in the process — after resisting and frantically hiding his sexuality from them, until a magical body-swap outs him.

August 2020: Luz Noceda & Amity Blight at The Owl House

Image: Disney

Teen witches Luz and Amity, two main characters in Disney Channel’s animated series The Owl House, were revealed to be queer in the episode “Enchanting Grom Fright.” Amity’s crush on Luz is made apparent throughout the episode, and the two share a romantically charged dance. The couple got together officially in the season 2 episode “Knock, Knock, Knocking on Hooty’s Door,” which aired about a year later.

May 2021: Artie in Cruella

Image: Disney

Artie, a vintage-store owner, doesn’t talk about his sexuality. CruellaJohn McCrea (an openly homosexual actor) says that he did not know the truth, however he said that a queer character was what prompted him to portray him.

“It depends on who you’re asking, I suppose — but for me, yes, it’s official: He’s queer,” he told Attitude magazine. McCrea also said the character was allegedly written as a drag queen in early drafts, so he may’ve always been intended to be queer.

June 2021: Loki’s Marvel Cinematic Universe

Image: Marvel Studios

Although many MCU characters may have queer counterparts from the comics. Loki (Tom Hiddleston), was the first character confirmed to screen. In the third episode of Disney Plus’ LokiSylvie, Sylvie, and the trickster God (Sophia Di Martino), catch up about their lives including past romantic rendezvous.

“How about you?” Sylvie asks Loki. “Must’ve been would-be princesses or perhaps, another prince.”

“A bit of both,” Loki replies. “I suspect the same as you.”

McGregor’s Jungle Cruise in July 2021

Image: Disney

Jungle Cruise, proper McGregor (Jack Whitehall) confesses to Dwayne Johnson’s Frank that he never married because his interest lay “elsewhere.” The two share a toast to that “elsewhere,” and McGregor elaborates a little, saying that he would’ve been ostracized from society because of who he loved, had his sister Lily (Emily Blunt) not stood by his side.

“I think it was a really well-written scene, and one that we certainly thought about and talked about,” Whitehall told Variety.

July 20,21: Raine Whispers at The Owl House

Image: Disney

Raine Whispers was the first non-binary, bard witch to make their appearance. The Owl House in the season two episode “Eda’s Requiem.” The character is voiced by non-binary actor Avi Rocque. The episode also reveals that Raine and Eda the owl Lady were in a once-loving relationship.

November 2021: Phastos, Ben Stosss at Eternals

Image: Marvel Studios

You can find the Eternals, Brian Tyree Henry’s Phastos is married to a man named Ben and the two of them are raising a child together. The husband kisses him onscreen. He says that he just wants to be with his children. While the film was banned in several Middle Eastern nations, it was still shown as a happy marriage with a child.

After various Disney creatives voiced their outrage, Chapek released a public shareholder statement clarifying the company’s stance and said that Disney had not donated to politicians specifically because of the bill. He donated $5 million to the Human Rights Campaign — but it was rejected by the HRC, which issued a statement about not accepting money from Disney “until we see them build on their public commitment and work with LGBTQ+ advocates.”

On Friday, Chapek sent out another internal memo to Disney, apologizing directly to the company’s LGBTQ employees.

“It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida, but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights,” Chapek wrote. “You needed me to be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights and I let you down. I am sorry.”