My Lion King Forum

So I am wondering do you think during this series run we will see any legit gay characters? like maybe Fuli gets a girlfriend or Ono a boyfriend or something like that?


Just an interesting thought but the series could tackle transgender stuff with a maneless lion or a maned lioness.

Any who what are your thoughts on this stuff?

Eh, I kinda doubt it, given the target demographic. I don't really think sexual orientation or gender identity is really something that any preschool show is going to address; introducing new romances probably isn't going to happen in the first place, or at least I don't expect much in that vein. (Plus, Timon and Pumbaa act so much like parents to Bunga that I sometimes think that this is the furthest the show would be willing to go on that front, which isn't necessarily bad; they don't make a big deal out of it, which I at least think is nice.)

As far as gender identity itself, I guess there's potential for the show to address things like dismantling stereotypical gendered roles and images with something like a maneless lion or maned lioness, although I wouldn't necessarily say that it would really match the idea of transgenderism itself, since while being trans may not necessarily be a choice, there is usually some conscious effort for trans individuals to look the part of their preferred gender if they don't see themselves as already being sufficiently feminine or masculine. A maned lioness doesn't really have that choice; she just has a mane because of biology, and there haven't been any studies that indicate that they're more likely to act any differently than a typical lioness, though they may still be targeted by others for looking a bit strange, so bullying issues pertaining to that could be something within the purview of the show.

Of course, I say this as a straight cis male, so maybe my perspective is a bit inaccurate or not necessarily reflective of at least some people's experiences.

timon and pumbaa, nuff said

[quote="zerodix"]timon and pumbaa, nuff said [/quote]

They aren't gay. Or, better put, they aren't interested in romance.

It used to be a thing where males in media lived together, and they were as straight as an arrow. Like Timon and Pumbaa, who show no interest in romance towards anyone or characters who show interest in the opposite sex.

The Odd Couple. The 60's movie starred Jack Lemmon and walter matthou. In Friends, several male characters lived together.

Bert and Ernie, afaik have not been retconned to be gay.

But not this is not the case for all characters. Ren and stimpy are canonically a gay couple.

[quote="The Lionvengers"][quote="zerodix"]timon and pumbaa, nuff said [/quote]

They aren't gay. Or, better put, they aren't interested in romance.

[/quote]

Uh, House of Mouse Valentine's episode? (I consider it a joke though, with Timon & Pumbaa)


but yeah, those two are just friends, best friends.

House of Mouse isn't canon to anything.

Why would anyone consider any of these characters to be gay? It's a preschool show for heaven's sake. Disney hasn't even jumped the bandwagon in putting controversial things on their media, and I really hope they never will. Which those things like the subject of this topic are meant for older people to understand. Not little kids.

And besides this about Timon and Pumbaa, LK 1 1/2 already showed us that neither one of them never had a friend before they met. So it was why they stuck together. And the creators weren't going to change this idea from the 1st film on it. Which that film also shows nothing that Timon, or Pumbaa are even remotely homosexual.

'Not that I really care about them together since I have and always see Timon with his own character identity from the trilogy films. But still.

[quote="Timon the great"]Why would anyone consider any of these characters to be gay? It's a preschool show for heaven's sake. Disney hasn't even jumped the bandwagon in putting controversial things on their media.[/quote]
They included gay couple in Zootopia (and possibly one more character that is gay) and a lesbian couple in finding Dory, but they were all cameos (as for the "gay" character, his real sexuality was never confirmed).

I doubt there will be any primary gay character anytime soon, especially in show meant for preschoolers. They don't even include regular romance yet.

I'm not expecting any gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer in general, characters to show up. Nor much romance at all, really, bar the rare nuzzle or "I love you" between Simba and Nala. Cartoons are just beginning to break new ground by including queer characters in them, and I'm all for that. But it's something I doubt Disney, who has been fairly conservative as far as LGBT characters go (their recent little background cameos aren't much) would put into a preschool show.

The only possibility I see as far as this, is something vague where it could be interpreted as the characters being gay, or it could be interpreted as not. Even something like that has a pretty low probability of happening, in my opinion. It's more likely they'll keep sexuality/romance out of the show entirely, unless pre-existing canon calls for it to be there (Simba/Nala).

Wait.

Zootopia had a gay couple?