Why we need an ‘Exclusively gay’ moment

This week, the world continued to astound in all the wrong ways with the Russia saga continuing to pour on in the States and alt-right candidates such as Milo being nominated as Glasgow Uni rector, a short rest bite did appear in the middle of the week. The live action remake of ‘Beauty and the Beast’ would feature an ‘exclusively gay’ scene.

Now for a film that has had me, shall we say, slightly worried about its ability to convey the greatness of its original; this news made me far more amenable to the film. Now of course, the cynic can say that this is the total point – the pink pound is notoriously powerful and since being gay is less controversial now, films can capitalise on it without much controversy.

I’m sure that is a factor but I’m sure it’s very small compared to the legitimate, sincere reasons for its inclusions. The film is a watershed and it’s not even a particularly revealing scene. The sexuality of Lefou will be revealed because he dances with a man, not a girl. It’s incredibly important for a company like Disney to take this bold step, especially at a time like this when hard fought civil rights are being questioned on all fronts.

Guy Lodge expresses in the Guardian that he isn’t all impressed by the choice of Lefou to be the first irrefutable gay character in the Disney franchise. He notes the villainous nature of the character as well as his unrequited love for a straight man being hardly ‘the recognition that gay viewers have been waiting for.’

But I think he misses the point here, personally I think it’s brave to make Lefou a gay man. Gay people, just like their straight counterparts are complex people. We love and hate, often follow political agendas which are not liberal and see our sexuality as one facet of ourselves. Lefou, in the film version, does come around to the beliefs of our protagonists and therefore will not project the idea of gay people as villainous but will allow for a well-developed character.

Lodge makes the good point that Disney has indeed had a long history of appealing to the LGBT audience through coded language. Many of the animated films resonate with young children who feel different but don’t though why. I always had a visceral reaction to ‘The Fox and the Hound’ and when I was younger I thought it was scary. Now, watching it I think it’s because something inside me, even at that age, resonated so strongly with Tod. Him being ostracised from a world in which he so desperately wants to belong was so powerful to me. As was the fact that he would go on to find happiness even though it wasn’t how he had imagined.

But that time of coded messaging deserves to be in the past now. Lodge talks about the characters that minority audiences deserve and I argue that we deserve open ones. It will not be an easy decision for Disney to make. They appeal to a large family audience and this twitter poll, by the conservative Glenn Beck, shows that many will boycott the film just because it has a gay character. 

Part of me can understand that. Parents just don't want to explain this lifestyle to their children, in many cases it comes from a unwillingness to discuss sexual relations in general rather than any specific homophobia. 'They'll learn in their own time.' But the truth is that some children will be brought up in a homophobic environment which rejects the notion of same sex attraction. Oftentimes, well meaning people will talk about how 'they don't mind but they don't want it thrown in their face'. But the world is full of straight people throwing that lifestyle in the face of children. As these children approach puberty and begin questioning their sexual orientation, it can be incredibly confusing. Coded messages in films only perpetuate the idea that being gay is the 'love that dare not speak its name'; a taboo that should only be discussed out of sight and under the cover of darkness.

Hopefully though, this is a watershed moment for Disney. Perhaps by tipping their toes in the water, they will find that a community is waiting patiently to be embraced. A community that wants to share its stories of princesses that want to be princes without hidden messages or backhanded illusions that it’s okay to be different. We deserve films that say loudly and clearly, we exist and we are here.