Beauty and the Beast remake to feature first openly gay Disney character

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

You read that right! Seems that Disney will have its first gay character (at least on screen) debuting in the live-action remake of BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. And, of course it will be Gaston's (Luke Evans) toady, LeFou (Josh Gad). Here's director Bill Condon (TWILIGHT: BREAKING DAWN PARTS 1 & 2) talking about the decision: 

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.

Hmmm. Not sure having LeFou (whose name in French literally means "Crazy Guy") is the best candidate for "first openly gay Disney character", but it is nice to have some LGBT recognition in the House of Mouse, regardless. And maybe it will be tasteful, as Condon himself is openly gay (alongside stars Luke Evans and Ian McKellen). So I'm hoping for the best, even as I expect the worse (especially considering LeFou is also kind of a shit-heel in the cartoon). We'll see.

And, yes, it also seems a bold claim to make when Timon and Pumba exist. As well, this news is hot-on-heels of the Disney Channel featuring a same-sex kiss on one of its kid's cartoons, which is cool. Maybe this will open the door to a gay princess? One can only hope.

Either way, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST will hit theaters March 17th, 2017.