The Beauty and the Beast Boycott

Everyone has been extremely excited about the live action remake of Beauty and the Beast that is coming to theaters on March 17 2017. It has been a highly talked about movie since the release of the teaser trailer.

Yet, the excitement seemed to fade for some people when the famous evangelist Franklin Graham called for a boycott against the movie.

According to Graham, the character LeFou is homosexual. He claims this is Disney’s way of pushing the “LGBT agenda into the heart and minds of children.”

Christians have been following the lead of Graham and signing a petition to boycott the movie, while some Christian theater owners are refusing to show the movie in their theater.

Yet this all seems a little ridiculous considering that Disney never confirmed or denied that Lefou is gay.

What we for sure know about the movie is that nowhere in the movie is gay rights or gay marriage discussed. It is not confirmed that LeFou has a boyfriend, husband or a same sex partner in general.

What we do know is that there is one single scene where there is a “subtle” moment that is seems like LeFou may or may not have feelings toward Gaston.

According to the director Bill Condon, LeFou is a character that is “confused about what he wants.”

So in reality, people are boycotting this movie because they assumed that a character was homosexual, but it is never confirmed.

Because someone hides their kids from a movie that may potentially have a homosexual character, is not going to change the fact that there are gay people in this world. At some point in their life, these kids are going to interact with someone who likes the same sex.  

I am not here to tell anyone how to raise their children, but maybe everyone should consider teaching their kids that it is okay to be gay and that we are all created equal instead of making sure they do not  watch a movie.

What better way to teach your kids about the concept of sexuality than through a Disney movie? Watching a Disney character who is attracted to the same sex will make it easier for children to understand.

In the end, the people who still want to see Beauty and the Beast will see Beauty and the Beast. A boycott is not going to stop that.