''LGBT inclusion isn’t hard'' LGBT people are sending the message that subtext isn’t enough — it’s time for Hollywood to do better

Did Disney just unveil its first lesbian couple? After the second trailer for “Finding Dory,” the sequel to the studio’s 2003 lost-at-sea classic “Finding Nemo,” dropped online Tuesday, fans spotted what appeared to be a same-sex couple pushing a stroller at the 1:07 mark. That fact was first pointed out by Twitter user @DLthings and quickly ignited widespread elation on Twitter that the Mouse House is taking steps toward queer inclusion. Many, however, urged caution in getting too excited. As HitFix’s Emily Rome wrote, viewers “really don’t see enough to know whether these two women are romantically linked or not.”

If audiences are perhaps jumping the gun in anticipation of this possible milestone, it’s because queer people are desperate and hungry for more than we’ve been given in the past. In recent months, LGBT supporters have been pushing for greater visibility in franchises like “Frozen” and “Captain America.” “Frozen” was viewed both by queer audiences and conservative critics as laden with queer subtext: In such a reading, the rejection of Elsa’s magic powers is akin to society’s rejection of homosexuality. The Guardian further called “Let It Go” a “coming-out anthem for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people.” The outlet particularly drew attention to lyrics like “Conceal don’t feel, don’t let them know/ Well now they know!” as having a double meaning for LGBT viewers. But in the case of “Frozen,” any pretense to queerness is all subtext. For instance, there’s a scene where Anna (voiced by Kristen Bell) and Kristoff (Jonathan Groff) visit a trading post during a blizzard. The proprietor, Oaken, is a jolly, bearded fellow — who might or might not be gay, depending on your interpretation. In the brief scene in which he appears, Oaken waves to his partner and children (who are lounging in the sauna), and it seems that his spouse is a man. But then again, that may not be the case: Rob Price of The Daily Dot argues that the man in question could be “a brother, or cousin, or son, or even just a random customer.” Others have suggested that the woman on the right is his wife and the man in the center of the image is actually just his eldest son. That’s the problem with subtext: By not making it part of the overt narrative, audiences can more or less read into it whatever they like. To paraphrase Mark Hamill’s statement on Luke Skywalker’s sexuality, Oaken is as gay as we want him to be. That’s why LGBT viewers have been beginning Disney to #GiveElsaAGirlfriend in the planned sequel to “Frozen,” a Twitter campaign that Idina Menzel (the woman behind Elsa) has vocally supported. A similar campaign to allow Captain America to explore same-sex relationships in the Marvel films has reportedly been tweeted more than 200,000 times.