Disney Channel features its first bisexual lead character

Since the animated Disney Channel show “The Owl House” premiered in January, fans have suspected that the main character, 14-year-old Luz Noceda, has feelings for another female character, Amity. And now the show’s creator, Dana Terrace, has confirmed that it’s true.

This is a huge step forward for diversity on kids’ TV. Although Luz isn’t Disney’s first LGBTQ+ character — the Pixar short “Out,” released in May through the Disney+ SparksShorts series, features two gay men, Greg and Manuel — Luz is the first bisexual character to make a Disney debut on a television series.

Terrace revealed on Twitter that the experience of getting a bisexual character on the Disney Channel wasn’t particularly easy. She said she “was told by certain Disney leadership that [she] could NOT represent any form of bi or gay relationship on the [Disney] Channel.”

But she refused to take no for an answer, and she says her “stubbornness paid off.”

https://twitter.com/DanaTerrace/status/1292321440696422400

Terrace’s tweets were met with a stream of positive comments from her followers. Alex Hirsch, the creator of Disney’s “Gravity Falls” — on which Terrace worked as a storyboard artist — joined the conversation to reveal that Disney “forbade” him from including any explicit LGBTQ+ characters.

“Apparently ‘happiest place on earth’ meant ‘straightest,'” Hirsch wrote. “But as of today, thanks to @DanaTerrace & team there are explicitly queer ANIMATED MAIN CHARACTERS on DISNEY TV.”

In 2017, the Disney Channel featured its first gay storyline, in the second season of “Andi Mack.”

“Television reflects the real-life world, and today that includes LGBTQ youth who deserve to see their lives depicted on their favorite shows,” Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO and president of GLAAD, told Huffington Post at the time.

“Disney has been a leader in LGBTQ inclusion, and there are so many young people who will be excited to see [this] story unfold.”

“The Owl House” series follows Luz on her quest to become a witch, even though she does not have any magical abilities. Luz is voiced by Sarah-Nicole Robles, while Mae Whitman plays her love interest, Amity Blight.

Whitman also took to Twitter to express her support for the Luz-Amity relationship, writing, “We stan beyond” along with heart emojis in a rainbow of colors.

And in another tweet by Terrace, the show creator thanked viewers for tuning in to show, writing, “Representation matters! Always fight to make what YOU want to see!”

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