Let’s be real, Beauty and the Beast’s gay couple has always been in love
The live-action version of Beauty and the Beast will include an “exclusively gay moment” involving villain Gaston’s manservant LeFou, who is now a gay character.
But let’s be real: Le Fou was already gay in the Disney film – and so was Gaston.
Let’s look at the evidence.
When Gaston feels down in the dumps, after having his attempts to make Belle his beard rejected, Le Fou does everything in his power to cheer him up, serenading him about how wonderful and manly he is.
“Every guy here’d love to be you, Gaston / Even when taking your lumps,” he sings, with no attempt to hide the double entendre – or his feelings.
Le Fou twirls and dances around the room, clearly enjoying himself more than in any other scene.
It’s because he’s singing about his true love.
Look how happy he is. It’s heart-warming.
He tells everyone in the pub that no-one can compare to his paramour, shouting from the tabletops that “No one’s neck’s as incredibly thick as Gaston’s”.
The subsequent but unsaid ‘if you know what I mean’ is implied.
Gaston is hailed as “Perfect, a pure paragon!” by Le Fou, who then gestures to the clueless townsfolk and announces: “You can ask any Tom, Dick or Stanley / And they’ll tell you whose team they prefer to be on”.
We all know whose team Le Fou would prefer to be on.
He tickles Gaston’s jaw, telling him about the small feature he noticed – “No one’s got a swell cleft in his chin like Gaston” – and informs everyone that “Not a bit of him’s scraggly or scrawny”.
How interesting. Wonder how Le Fou knows that.
And despite getting punched and tossed across the room by Gaston, he keeps up the adoring tribute.
Because however much Gaston loves the attention and adoration Le Fou gives him, he can’t reveal his true feelings, and so he abuses Le Fou constantly.
And we haven’t even mentioned the fact that Belle and Gaston have zero chemistry.
Just look at when Gaston tries to kiss an unwilling – and unconsenting – Belle. His approach is incredibly slow, and he seems unsure where to aim his lips.
And why does he actually want her?
“I’ve promised myself I’d be married to Belle,” he tells Le Fou, his actual boo. “Here in town there’s only she, who is beautiful as me! So I’m making plans to woo and marry Belle!”
He’s aiming his barge-like physique for Belle because she’s considered the best girl in the village, and marrying her would help him keep up his hyper-masculine, hyper-heterosexual facade.
The fact that she doesn’t want him makes her an even better object for his affections – Gaston can always seem like he’s trying to marry a woman without actually having to do so.
Two gay friends who feel unable to publically announce their love for each other because of societal pressures – it’s a tale as old as time.
Don’t even get me started on Lumière and Cogsworth.
Disney is now featuring an increasing number of explicitly LGBT characters, with XD cartoon Star vs. the Forces of Evil featuring a gay kiss two weeks ago, which caused predictable outrage with America’s puritanical self-appointed TV censors One Million Moms.
Check out the live-action version of Le Fou’s song below:
