Every Disney LGBTQ Character Explained

The issue of LGBTQ+ representation in Disney movies has become the source of much controversy. LGBTQ+ advocates have often criticized the lack of representation in the company's releases, often finding what is there to be minimal or tokenistic. Creatives working for Disney have complained about LGBTQ+ content being censored. On the other side of things, increasingly vocal homophobic and transphobic hate movements have attacked Disney for including any LGBTQ+ representation at all (per CNN). To make sense of all this controversy, here's a list of every major confirmed LGBTQ+ Disney character, organized in chronological order.

First, some ground rules: This list focuses only on non-documentary films released under the Disney, Marvel Studios, and Lucasfilm labels, as well as TV shows from Disney Channel, Disney XD, Disney Junior, and Disney+. While Disney has owned or acquired other brands and networks such as Touchstone, Miramax, 20th Century Fox, ABC, and Hulu, these more adult-oriented labels have been mostly treated as a separate from the family-oriented "Disney" image. Characters included on this list have to be presented as LGBTQ+ in the movies or shows themselves, so characters who've only been confirmed LGBTQ+ via comic source material, spinoff books, or creator interviews are not included. Also missing from this list are unnamed background characters and characters who only appear in a single episode of a given TV show (aside from two historically significant exceptions). With all that out of the way, let's get to the characters.

"Good Luck Charlie" is a Disney Channel sitcom that ran for four seasons from 2010 to 2014. It was in the series' penultimate episode, "Down a Tree," that it made history by being the first Disney kids' show to feature a same-sex couple. When Charlie is set to have a playdate with her friend Taylor, Charlie's parents Bob and Amy get into an argument over what Taylor's mom is named. Amy thinks it's Susan while Bob think it's Cheryl. Turns out they're both right, because Taylor has two moms.

Disney representatives told TV Guide in 2013 that the story was "developed under the consultancy of child development experts and community advisers. Like Disney Channel programming, it was developed to be relevant to kids and families around the world and to reflect themes of diversity and inclusiveness." Responses to the episode at the time were positive among the LGBTQ+ community, with GLAAD and queer former Disney star Miley Cyrus celebrating, while the far-right anti-gay group One Million Moms protested the episode.

The 2017 live-action remake of "Beauty and the Beast" arrived with significant press coverage about it featuring an "exclusively gay" moment involving Gaston's sidekick LeFou, played by Josh Gad. Considering that LeFou was already a queer-coded campy character in the original who sings an entire song celebrating Gaston's hypermasculinity, it's not too far of a stretch to assume that the animated character already had a crush on Gaston, and that the live-action version was simply making that subtext into text.

Ultimately, though, many ended up feeling that the text of the film wasn't worth all the hype. It ended up being just a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment at the end of the film where LeFou is seen dancing with another man in a ballroom. Even this fairly minor gay representation, however, was enough for the blockbuster remake to be pulled from theaters in Alabama and temporarily banned in Malaysia.

Disney Channel had briefly featured gay romances before, but it wasn't until 2019 when Cyrus Goodman (played by bisexual actor Joshua Rush) on "Andi Mack" became the first Disney Channel character to say the words "I'm gay." A lot of queer-friendly kids' programming, from "Steven Universe" to "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power," has often had to avoid direct labeling of identity, making "Andi Mack" still somewhat groundbreaking. Cyrus first comes out to his friends Buffy and Andi in the show's second season, while the history-making "I'm gay" line occurs in the episode "One in a Minyan" from the series' third and final season.

According to an interview in the queer newspaper The Washington Blade, Cyrus's coming-out experience was based on that of the episode's writer, Jonathan Hurwitz. The storyline was highly praised for its honesty and directness, earning Season 2 of "Andi Mack" the first-ever GLAAD Media Award for outstanding kids and family programming. Season 3 was also nominated but lost to "Steven Universe".

The magical girl comedy-adventure cartoon "Star vs. the Forces of Evil," which ran for four seasons from 2015 to 2019, broke new ground for Disney XD by featuring the channel's first same-sex kisses in the Season 2 episode "Just Friends." Unnamed, non-speaking gay background characters alone, however, wouldn't qualify the show for this list — and while many queer viewers celebrated the gender nonconformity of male princess Marco Diaz, Marco himself was never confirmed to be queer.

"Star" follows in the long tradition of animated shows that only get to include official LGBTQ+ characters when they reach their conclusions. Daron Nefcy's animated series was ultimately able to reveal that two of its supporting characters were queer and in a relationship with each other in the Season 4 episode "Britta's Tacos." Jackie Lynn Thomas, Marco's ex-girlfriend, is shown going on a date with her classmate Chloe. It's safe to assume that Jackie identifies as pansexual based on the pride flag button she wears on her jacket.

Yes, the lesbians kissing in the background of the ending of "Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker" actually have names. One of them, Larma D'Acy (Amanda Lawrence), actually has a somewhat significant role in the previous film, "Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi." However, given that her role in "The Rise of Skywalker" is basically limited to kissing her partner Wrobie Tyce (Vinette Robinson), you're forgiven if you didn't recognize or remember her. Cue the slug reaction memes.

"Star Wars" has offered a lot more LGBTQ+ representation in print than it has onscreen. For example, lesbian antihero Doctor Aphra is the star of one of the most popular recent "Star Wars" comics but has yet to appear in any films or TV series. Amilyn Holdo was confirmed to be pansexual in the novel "Leia, Princess of Alderaan," but no mention was made of her sexuality in "The Last Jedi." Other characters have been confirmed as queer by writers, such as Lando Calrissian or Orka and Flix from "Star Wars Resistance," but have only had coded allusions at most onscreen.

Officer Specter, a cyclops cop voiced by Lena Waithe in the 2020 film "Onward," is the first gay character with a speaking role in a Pixar movie ("Finding Dory" and "Toy Story 4" previously included same-sex couples as background extras). She's featured in one significant scene talking with the elf brothers Ian and Barley while they're magically disguised as their centaur stepfather Officer Bronco. Specter and "Bronco" commiserate about the struggles of being a new stepparent, with Specter saying, "My girlfriend's daughter got me pulling my hair out, okay?"

This line was censored in some countries, while the film as a whole was banned in others (per IndieWire). Following "Avengers: Endgame" and "Star Wars: Episode IX — The Rise of Skywalker," many LGBTQ+ viewers were increasingly critical of Disney's assorted "first gay characters" from its various studios being hyped up, only to turn out being so minor that all the representation could be easily censored just by changing one line.

"The Owl House" is the most out-and-proud queer show on Disney Channel — which makes its premature cancelation and the shortening of its third and final season to just three specials all the more disappointing. Created by openly bisexual artist Dana Terrace, the show's protagonist Luz Noceda is a Dominican American neurodivergent bisexual 14-year-old girl who's whisked away to the magical realm of The Boiling Isles. During the many adventures and challenges she faces there, she develops a romantic relationship with former bully Amity Blight.

Luz and Amity's romance is the source of many of the story's sweetest moments, but it's not the only LGBTQ+ representation in the show. Luz's outlaw witch mentor Eda Clawthorne was formerly in a relationship with the non-binary witch Raine Whispers, who's voiced by non-binary actor Avi Roque. Two additional characters have been confirmed to be queer by the show's creative team: The Collector is non-binary, and Eda's sister Lilith is asexual. "The Owl House" has been nominated twice for outstanding kids and family programming at the GLAAD Media Awards.

Disney set up the "Launchpad" program as a way to discover new writers and directors from diverse backgrounds. The first season of six live-action short films from the program were released on Disney+ in 2021, and half of them feature LGBTQ+ characters and/or themes. "Growing Fangs," written and directed by Anne Marie Pace, is a comedic short about a queer Mexican American girl with both human and vampire ancestry learning to embrace the different parts of her identity.

The six-year-old ballet dancer at the center of Moxie Peng's "The Little Prince(ss)" might or might not grow up to identify as gay, trans, or non-binary, but the fact that the story's themes are all about directly challenging toxic enforcement of gender norms, homophobia, and transphobia is enough to make it fit comfortably in the Disney+ "Pride" section. And Stefanie Abel Horowitz's "Let's Be Tigers" is more about grief and depression than it is about LGBTQ+ themes, but it does briefly feature a gay couple.

The "Jungle Cruise" movie, directed by Jaume Collet-Sera and based on the ride from the Disney theme parks, was shot in 2018 and originally scheduled for release in 2019 but ended up being delayed two years, first due to reshoots and then due to the COVID-19 pandemic. During this long wait for the film's release, there was already significant debate over the fact that Jack Whitehall, a straight actor, was going to play the film's "effeminate" and "camp" gay character McGregor Houghton (per The Mary Sue). Many feared the character sounded like a stereotype, and rumors spread that the reshoots were undertaken in part to try to make the character less offensive.

Responses to the character in the finished film leaned more positive, if still somewhat critical. McGregor does still fit fussy, camp stereotypes, but critics generally felt these stereotypes weren't used maliciously, and that the scene where he openly acknowledges that his interests lie "elsewhere" from relationships with women was handled well, with Dwayne Johnson's macho hero Frank wholeheartedly accepting McGregor.

"Doogie Kameāloha, M.D." is a family-friendly medical show inspired by "Doogie Houser, M.D." Not exactly a remake or reboot, as characters in "Kameāloha" have actually watched "Howser" on TV and reference it, the series premiered on Disney+ in 2021.

Dr. Charles Zeller, played by gay actor Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman, is something of an outsider amongst the other doctors at Oahu Health Medical Center, having come all the way from Chicago to work in Hawaii. Zeller is also gay himself. "It was so important for me to be a part of this project, representing queer characters on such a massive entity such as Disney+," Bowyer-Chapman told Entertainment Tonight. "It's everything that I ever wanted as a kid, to be able to turn on the TV and see reflections of myself bouncing back at me." In 2022, the series was nominated for the GLAAD Media Award for outstanding kids and family programming.

While "Eternals" was still playing in theaters, the MCU quietly introduced a gay supporting character in the "Hawkeye" Disney+ series. At this point in the franchise's history, what might be most notable about lesbian cop Wendy Conrad (Adetinpo Thomas) is that she was able to be casually introduced without any sort of big "first gay character" hype.

In the comics, Wendy Conrad is the secret identity of the mercenary known as Bombshell. "Hawkeye" hints at this role with the word "bombshell" embroidered on a bag she says was given to her by her wife. Some people have noted that Wendy Conrad shares similarities with Officer Specter from "Onward." Some have seen this as part of a media-wide trend of introducing lesbian cops as a way for TV shows to supposedly make lesbian characters more palatable to conservative viewers while simultaneously making police more palatable to liberal viewers.

The week "Turning Red" was released on Disney+, artists from Pixar wrote an open letter criticizing Disney's censorship of LGBTQ+ storylines in the studio's movies. While they didn't say that such censorship occurred with "Turning Red" in particular, extra attention was paid to any hints of queerness in the film. It's possible to interpret the tomboy Miriam's affection towards Mei as either a close friendship or as a more romantic feeling, and it's hard not to interpret Tyler crying while screaming "I love you!" to his favorite boy band member as an indicator of him having a crush.

However, the one officially confirmed queer character in the movie is Priya, Mei's sarcastic vampire-obsessed friend. Priya shows serious interest in a goth girl at a party, and when she works up the courage to dance with the girl, her friends cheer her on and exchange knowing looks. It's not a lot, but it's as much of an "exclusively gay moment" as LeFou has in "Beauty in the Beast," and it's nice to have a scene like this without the overblown self-congratulatory promotion that accompanied LeFou's gayness.

America Chavez is an out-and-proud lesbian in the comics, coming from the all-female universe known as the Utopian Parallel. Her MCU introduction in 2022's "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness" acknowledges her background and the fact that she has two moms, whom she accidentally sent into another dimension and hopes to rescue at some point. America's own sexuality is left a bit more ambiguous in the movie.

The clearest signs of queer coding regarding America in the film are the rainbow flag pin and the words "amor es amor" written on her jacket. Those who know the comics will read this as coding America as gay, but there's just enough ambiguity that others could see it as just a show of support for her parents. Either way, this certainly won't be the last we see of America Chavez in the MCU, and hopefully future films and/or streaming series will get to address her identity more directly.

The Disney+ series "Baymax!" follows the lovable, inflatable healthcare robot from "Big Hero 6" as he helps out different residents of San Fransokyo with their personal issues. Mbita, who runs a fish soup food truck but develops an adult-onset fish allergy, is the subject of Baymax's care in the series' fourth episode. Mbita avoids being just a one-off character because he returns in the season finale as part of the "Little Hero 6" team that rescues Baymax after he runs out of batteries.

Throughout Episode 4, Mbita is flustered by Yukio, another man working at the farmers' market, and at the end of the episode, he works up the courage to ask Yukio out on a date. Mbita's voice actor, gay comedian Jaboukie Young-White, is also set to voice the queer character Ethan in Disney's "Strange World." Another noteworthy moment of LGBTQ+ representation in "Baymax" occurs in Episode 3 when a transmasculine character appears, wearing a trans flag shirt while shopping for menstrual products.