The evolution of LGBTQ+ Disney characters has always been agonizingly slow and unsteady. The company has taken baby steps over the years to start including queer representation in its films and TV shows, usually by allowing Pixar to keep the two moms hidden in the back or okaying the idea of LeFou being gay after all.

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Whether it's two moms at the aquarium with Dory, a teenage coming out story on Disney Channel, or the blink-and-you'll-miss-it gay moment in Frozen, every one of these characters paved the way for Hawthorne, a queer character in Pixar's Lightyear who will have Disney's first-ever animated same-sex kiss.

Oaken And His Family (Frozen, 2013)

Oaken Family in Frozen

When Anna and Kristoff meet Oaken at Wandering Oaken's Trading Post and Sauna, he says hi to his family who are in the sauna. The two-second-long scene shows another man surrounded by four children through the steamy window of the sauna.

While the Frozen filmmakers have never addressed this scene, it's an accurate assumption to assume the man in the sauna is Oaken's partner with their four children, thus becoming one of the earliest known queer characters in Disney history.

Susan And Cheryl (Good Luck Charlie, 2014)

Good Luck Charlie

In a Season 4 episode of Disney Channel's Good Luck Charlie, a sitcom-esque misunderstanding occurs when Charlie's parents each interact with Charlie's friend's mom on separate occasions, just to inevitably find out that Charlie's friend has two moms.

The couple was Disney Channel's first clear shot at LGBTQ+ representation and was met with backlash from several parenting groups. The backlash didn't stop Disney for long, eventually showing two moms in the background of Pixar's Finding Dory in 2016, and another two moms at Bonnie's new school in Toy Story 4 in 2019.

Bucky And Pronk (Zootopia, 2016)

Bucky and Pronk in Zootopia

While Bucky and Pronk aren't seen long in Zootopia, their legacy as a queer couple is long-lasting. The two male mammals are Judy Hopps' next-door neighbors who grunt and grumble over Judy's nonsense.

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The characters were confirmed to be a married couple by the film's directors, Jared Bush and openly gay Byron Howard, who each lend their voices to Bucky and Pronk.

LeFou (Beauty And The Beast, 2017)

josh-gad-luke-evans-beauty-and-the-beast
Image via Disney

While Gaston's right-hand man LeFou never came out in the 1990 animated version of Beauty and the Beast, in the 2017 live-action adaption, the character is all but confirmed to be LGBTQ. The film alludes on several occasions that LeFou is attracted to Gaston, and during the movie's final scene when the characters dance in the ballroom, LeFou is seen dancing with another man.

Not only were viewers left disappointed by the lackluster queer representation, but so was LeFou's portrayer Josh Gad, stating in an interview, "Frankly, I don’t think we did justice to what a real gay character in a Disney film should be."

Cyrus Goodman (Andi Mack, 2019)

Andi Mack

Andi Mack broke barriers by showcasing the first-ever coming-out storyline on Disney Channel. Cyrus Goodman was the first character to utter the words "I'm gay" before starting a relationship with another boy, going as far as holding hands to depict their feelings to the viewers.

While the show's storyline was met with a mixture of backlash and acclaim, it caused a surge in ratings and received praise from LGBTQ organizations GLAAD, PFLAG, and Stonewall.

Larma And Wrobie (Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, 2019)

Larma and Wrobie in Stars Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

After three years of director J.J. Abrams teasing queer representation in the galaxy far, far away, fans finally got it in the form of a same-sex kiss between Larma and Wrobie in the background of a scene from 2019's Stars Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

While Wrobie was not named in the film, she was given the name Wrobie Tyce in The Rise of Skywalker: The Visual Dictionary, where it's stated that she's the wife of Larma D'Acy.

Officer Specter (Onward, 2020)

Officer Specter in Onward

Pixar started including LGBTQ representation in their films in small doses as background characters with no lines. Officer Specter from 2020's Onward marks the first openly LGBTQ character in a Pixar film to utter a line.

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“My girlfriend’s daughter got me pulling my hair out," the female officer says, not-so-subtly hinting at her lesbian relationship to the viewers. The character is voiced by openly lesbian actress Lena Waithe, who was said to have improvised the queer line.

Artie (Cruella, 2021)

cruella-artie
Image via Disney

In the 2020 live-action 101 Dalmatians spin-off titled Cruella, a character named Artie appears, owner of a vintage clothing shop and admirer of Cruella's fashion. The character was created specifically for the film, and seemingly for the sake of LGBTQ representation.

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Despite being played by an openly gay actor and the film heads confirming that Artie is indeed gay, the character never outright says so, leaving his queer-coded personality traits up to interpretation.

Phastos (Eternals, 2021)

Phastos in Eternals

While Marvel is full of eccentric characters who fly, have super strength, and spidey senses, this cinematic universe never featured an openly LGBTQ superhero until its 2021 film Eternals. Phastos appears as an openly gay man with a husband and a son and has the first same-sex kiss in the MCU franchise.

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The only other hint at queer representation in the MCU was between Loki and Sylvie in the Disney+ series Loki, where the two allude to their bi-curious pasts while catching up with one another.

Cami Rivera (Raven's Home, 2022)

Cami on Raven's Home

It's been rare to see Disney Channel offer everyday queer representation that isn't the center of the story, but with Raven's Home, that's all changing. In the Season 5 episode titled "A Streetcar Named Conspire," the episode subtly threw in three nods to LGBTQ representation.

Aside from a pride sticker on the door of the nostalgic restaurant The Chill Grill to represent inclusion, there are also two queer characters featured in the episode. The first is a girl named Cami, who Booker's friends say only dates cool guys and girls, to which Neil responds, "There's a name for people like that... popular!" The other is the streetcar driver who briefly mentions the love of his life being a "him."

NEXT: Why Disney Is Failing At LGBTQ+ Representation