'Beauty and the Beast' Will Introduce Disney's First Openly Gay Character

Disney will introduce its first openly gay character in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast. We know: It took them long enough.

In an exclusive interview with Attitude magazine, the film’s director Bill Condon revealed that the highly anticipated project will include Disney’s first-ever “exclusively gay moment.” The character of LeFou, the sidekick of the story’s main antagonist, will apparently have his own romantic subplot that addresses his attraction to Gaston.

“LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston,” Condon explained. “He’s confused about what he wants. It’s somebody who’s just realizing that he has these feelings. And Josh [Gad] (the actor who portrays LeFou) makes something really subtle and delicious out of it. And that’s what has its payoff at the end, which I don’t want to give away. But it is a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie.”

Shortly after the interview was published, 36-year-old Gad sent out a tweet about his historic role.