The upcoming live action remake of ‘Beauty and the Beast‘ is set to feature Disney‘s first gay character, which tbh seems like about bloody time.
Anyone who’s seen the classic animation will remember LeFou‘s swooning admiration for Gaston (“No one’s slick as Gaston / No one’s quick as Gaston / No one’s neck’s as incredibly thick as Gaston’s”), which is just fabulously camp enough to fly with the 1991 audience.
But now, director Bill Condon has said that he and the film’s writers and producers have developed LeFou’s character (played by Josh Gad) into a man slowly realising that his admiration for Gaston (Luke Evans) is something more than platonic, as a way of increasing LGBT visibility on screen.
Speaking to Attitude Magazine, he said:
“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. 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.”
Shortly after news broke, Gad tweeted that he was “beyond proud”.
Beyond proud of this https://t.co/5wG1KfKqVZ
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) March 1, 2017
I love you @joshgad. Bravo, @Disney. https://t.co/XSw4B3L08Y
— josh groban (@joshgroban) March 1, 2017
Thank you my friend. And I can’t wait to see you next week in all your glory!!! https://t.co/KxRSLCacUR
— Josh Gad (@joshgad) March 1, 2017
And look. ‘Beauty and the Beast’ might contain Disney’s first exclusively gay moment, but that doesn’t mean the movie house hasn’t danced real close in the past.
STATEMENT: “BEAUTY & THE BEAST will feature Disney’s first gay character.”
REACTION: pic.twitter.com/O0apmKbDtS
— Glen Weldon (@ghweldon) March 1, 2017
“LeFou is Disney’s first gay character”
You sure about that? pic.twitter.com/XYaj1N2Yma
— My Name Is James ?? (@_JamesGtfo) March 1, 2017
LeFou can chill. We all know who Disney’s first gay character really is pic.twitter.com/xDjEjbvOfG
— jeremy cabo ?? (@jeremycabo) March 1, 2017
There’s also some backlash from the LGBT community online.
Hey, Disney, give me canon Poe/Finn for LGBT rep, not LeFou, a comedic sidekick, in an unrequited crush w Gaston, a hyper masculine villain.
— margaret a. easley (@margaretamelia_) March 1, 2017
Look, LeFou has been a gay stereotype since the cartoon. So has the clock. So has Gaston. This is way more eye rolling than exciting.
— Jack Ralls ?????? (@moofable) March 1, 2017
concept to fix this mess: lefou is gay for gaston, but gaston is Bi for lefou, no one dies, they’re evil together
— Klaudia Amenábar (@kaludiasays) March 1, 2017
How gay individuals feel about the Lefou news is more important than how any straight person feels about it and we all need to remember that
— Sarah Snitch (@SarahSnitch) March 1, 2017
Gay LeFou isn’t progress. It’s the opposite. You think gay kids want to see themselves on screen FOR THE FIRST TIME as a villain sidekick?
— Lily ?? Anderson (@ms_lilyanderson) March 1, 2017
To the movie executives who made Lefou gay: A badly thought out stereotype is just as bad, if not worse, than no gay representation at all.
— Arnar Heiðmar (@ArnarTheWriter) March 1, 2017
Regardless – ‘Gaston’ is low key the best song in the entire film and I will fight anyone who says otherwise.
My, what a guy, that Gaston ?? #BeOurGuest pic.twitter.com/s64za3iNAr
— Beauty and the Beast (@beourguest) February 27, 2017
Photo: Disney.
