Culture

Baby Yoda is now an unlikely LGBT+ icon after upsetting religious conservatives. Yes, really

Baby Yoda LGBT icon

Baby Yoda is now an LGBT+ icon. (YouTube)

Baby Yoda has apparently become an LGBT+ icon in Mexico after he replaced the baby Jesus in a festive cake.

Yes, you read that correctly. Baby Yoda, who fast became a pop culture phenomenon – and, of course, a meme – when he first appeared in Star Wars series The Mandalorian in 2019, is now a bona fide queer icon after he got on the wrong side of religious conservatives in Mexico.

The character, officially named Grogu, or The Child, has been adopted by the LGBT+ community after a restaurant in Mexico City decided to reinvent a traditional cake called Rosca de Reyes.

The cake is usually baked with a small figurine of the baby Jesus inside, and it is generally eaten on the Catholic holiday of the Epiphany on 6 January.

But Kraneo Foods in Mexico City replaced the figurine of Christ with a model of Baby Yoda instead, Remezcla reports – and some Catholics were not impressed.

Religious conservatives banded together to decry the restaurant’s twist on the cake. Frente Nacional por la Familia (the National Front for the Family) said replacing the baby Jesus was “an attack on religion” and “an attack on family values”.

Elsewhere, the deputy director of radio and television of the Archdiocese of Mexico said putting Baby Yoda inside a cake should be done at “another time, such as for Children’s Day or birthdays.”

He insisted that the cake should be about “meeting the Christ child, the child Jesus, remembering and appreciating the story of the gospel, [not] simply having fun, eating the bread, and finding your favourite character within it.”

Baby Yoda ‘is now considered an LGBT+ icon’.

One person thankfully helped to explain the backlash on Tumblr, writing that conservative groups in Mexico were “extremely upset” as people replaced the baby Jesus with Baby Yoda.

They added: “So now, Baby Yoda is considered an LGBT+ icon for making furious those conservative, homophobic people.”

Twitter has gone into meltdown with the news that Baby Yoda is now an LGBT+ icon, with many welcoming the character as a symbol of the community.

Now all we need is for someone to recreate the Pride flag with Baby Yoda emblazoned onto it.

The Mandalorian seasons one and two, which feature Baby Yoda, are available to stream on Disney+.

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