The Internet is in flames following reports in which
director Bill Condon confirmed that Gaston's sidekick LeFou will be the first openly gay in a Disney film. While I am not heavily a supporter of LGQT rights, a character's sexuality should have no place in a family film.
A drive-in theater in Henegar, Alabama announced they will not screen the movie in theaters, and even
Russia is considering whether to allow the film to be shown if the officials deem it violated a measure of having "elements of propaganda of homosexuality" in children's films.
Hundreds of people have posted on social media that they or their families were planning on seeing the film, but following the revelation, they are boycotting the movie. Those who are against the backlash are claiming the film supports bestiality which is actually false. The Beast was originally human and was enchanted to become a beast as a reflection of his arrogant, selfish personality. You can read
one Facebook conversation posted on the article about the backlash for yourself.
As for me, personally, the controversy is probably overblown and even a
negative review from Indiewire claims the gay undertones is not as blatant as they are reported to be. I do remember hoopla thrown over Gobbler's throw-away line over not getting married that director Dean DeBlois confirmed as him coming out in
How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Ellen DeGeneres claiming there was a transsexual stingray in
Finding Dory which sparked some pre-release outrage, but turned out to be a joke after the film's release.