We Need to Stop Depending on Disney to Give Us the Queer Women We Deserve

Above: She-Ra Princess of Power (2018-2020)

Media conglomerates that are as large as Disney care about appealing to as many people as they can, thus making as much money as they can. Disney will even try to lure in more viewers by announcing “our first gay character!” for what seems like the tenth time. These “first gay characters” are hardly what the LGBTQ+ community would consider representation. From two female characters walking next to each other in Finding Dory to the cyclops cop in Onward, it’s not only frustrating but insulting to members of the LGBTQ+ community (myself included), who wish to see themselves represented in a positive light.

In fact, according to a study by GLAAD (the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation), in 2018, there were only 45 LGBTQ+ characters in mainstream media releases, and only 19 of those characters were queer women. The US population is about 325 million, with an estimated population of LGBTQ+ women at 5.1%. This amount may not seem like a lot, but it’s over 16 million women who identify as part of the community. Meanwhile, Disney’s feature films put these “blink-and-you-miss-it” nods to the LGBTQ+ community. Disney does this to make it easy for other countries to easily cut out the scenes without changing the story. Not only does this quick edit allow Disney to still make millions overseas, but also continues the cycle of announcing a gay character, and leaving queer audiences once again disappointed. A few examples of Disney’s “first openly gay character” are the two women who kissed in the background in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, a gay man mentioning a date in a scene of Avengers: Endgame, and of course the cyclops police officer who mentions “her girlfriend” in Onward.

Yes, these examples are disappointing and insulting, and believe it or not, there was still backlash over these background characters. While it is disappointing to see a company like Disney not take representation seriously, queer women in animated TV have made a positive impact over these recent years. It is essential to acknowledge Steven Universe, a show that wouldn’t have made the impact it did if it weren’t for its queer creator, Rebecca Sugar. She pushed for inclusivity in her show, especially for queer stories. It was groundbreaking for its wedding episode between two female-identifying characters that aired before same-sex marriage was legalized by the Supreme Court. The Legend of Korra showed two young women who loved each other in a positive light onscreen. The creators fought for more but still ended up with the characters holding hands and the creators confirmed the two being in a romantic relationship. Adventure Time also surprised fans with an on-screen kiss between two of the show’s main female characters. While their relationship did not get a lot of screen time, it was still a good relationship to show to audiences. Most recently, queer creator Noelle Stevenson made history with her inclusive show She-Ra and the Princess of Power that featured multiple queer characters and couples who were developed and shown in a positive light. The two main women in the show, both complex and strong have an on-screen kiss, creating more positive content for queer women.

Above: Steven Universe (2013-2020)

Parents concerned that their children are being “indoctrinated” or that gay characters are “too sexual” for children is heartbreaking. The representation we have for queer women in animation is something I wish I had growing up. As a queer woman myself, growing up only seeing heterosexual couples was difficult. There was no kid-friendly content featuring positive LGBTQ+ representation that I could look up to. In my opinion, it sometimes forces queer children to grow up too fast, since starving for queer content means turning to media that is geared toward adults. It also feels invalidating to not see yourself on screen. It’s interesting that parents who are against LGBTQ+ content in animation say “it will turn my kid gay”, while most queer kids grew up with heteronormativity and, obviously, stayed queer.

Seeing this recent rise of queer content in animation, especially of queer women who are complex, strong, intelligent, and role models gives me hope. Young queer girls will have their self-discovery journeys early in life and be able to see themselves onscreen at a young age. While Disney isn’t doing much to help the queer community, animated television is breaking grounds for inclusivity. I am looking forward to what animated television will look like in terms of LGBTQ+ representation 10 years from now.

Sources:

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-48350023

https://news.gallup.com/poll/234863/estimate-lgbt-population-rises.aspx

https://www.glaad.org/sri/2019/overview

https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/queer-women-lgbtq-characters-animated-tv-series

https://variety.com/2020/tv/features/rebecca-sugar-cartoon-network-steven-universe-1203537231/