Disney+ Really Said “Screw the Gays”
Image via @Unsplash
Have y’all ever noticed that the second an LGBTQ+ show gains traction, it’s canceled? The Wilds. Generation. First Kill. The list is endless. Side note– it is mostly wlw shows (but shhhh no one wants to talk about that).
Hell, Disney+ deserves their own special graveyard of gays including Andi Mack and now The Owl House is getting buried six feet under ground.
In case you aren’t already a fan, The Owl House is a Disney Channel animated tv show that made its debut in 2020. It was created by former Gravity Falls storyboarder, Dana Terrace. She is an active member of the LGBTQ+ community, coming out as bisexual herself after the production of Gravity Falls ended. The Owl House is based around the Boiling Isles, aka the Demon Realm, a place of strange creatures, boiling rain, and a community built in the bones of a dead titan. Yikes.
The Owl House follows the story of fourteen-year-old, Latino girl, Luz Noceda. Luz is--let’s face it-- a nerd who never quite fit in with the other kids at school. We’ve heard that one before. She has wild fantasies of living an adventurous life full of danger and heroism. When her mother threatens to send her to a reformatory summer camp, Luz finds an escape to the Demon Realm where she ends up staying with a fugitive witch and a power-hungry dog thing... sorry, no spoilers :)
Disney has never had a tv show quite like this one. This show tackles big issues with dignity such as abusive relationships, discrimination, trauma, depression, and even post-traumatic stress disorder. All the while maintaining healthy representation of the queer community.
Luz has a full on enemies-to-lovers relationship with the character Amity. These two lovebirds are the first out & proud lesbian couple to air in a Disney animated tv show! Like, REAL relationship. Not just a bunch of queer coded songs and lusty eye contact. Along with the wlw representation, the show gets the whole rainbow involved with nonbinary characters and nurturing gay dads.
This was no small victory. Getting a company as huge and, not to mention, influential as Disney to air queer content targeted towards a young audience is actually a GINORMOUS victory– especially after the “Don’t Say Gay” bill destroyed our hope in humanity.
But don’t get too excited– the show has already been canceled. Yup, we’re serious.
Disney canceled The Owl House due to it not “fitting Disney’s brand.” AKA it was too gay and it scared them.
What changed between season one and season two?
Two simple things: 1) The show was attracting more teens and adults than children. 2) The show had too many LGBTQ+ characters for Disney to handle. Which, unfortunately, isn’t surprising after Disney publicly disapproved of the NIMONA queer kiss last winter.
In an interview with Terrace, when asked about the decision to cancel the show, she said that she had not been a part of the conversation. Like at all.
Whether Disney will admit to it or not, this is censorship. Big name companies like Disney, HBO Max, Netflix, and more are restricting the queer community’s right to tell their stories.
The Owl House has begun to crack away at the walls that constrain the LGBTQ+ community in Disney content. A few more hits from shows or movies like The Owl House or that new Baymax series & who knows what will happen! Maybe we will actually see the first lesbian Disney Princess... and no Elsa does not count.