People with kids in their lives, or just those who are in touch with their own inner child, have probably seen the Disney hit “Frozen” more times than they can count. For the uninitiated, the animated flick tells the story of a pair of princesses, one of whom struggles to keep a special power under wraps from her sister and her kingdom. It’s a cute and empowering tale about being true to your identity, and puts a unique and modern spin on the archetypical Disney theme of a man coming to a damsel’s rescue.
A movement recently started on social media to make future incarnations of “Frozen” even more 21st-century-friendly: by making the main character, Princess Elsa, a lesbian. There are no references to a love interest for the character in the original version, so LGBT supporters suggested introducing a girlfriend in the upcoming sequel could be a good way to introduce LGBT topics to the Disney realm.
That proposal sent conservatives aflutter, including local Daily News columnist Christine Flowers, who penned a piece last week blasting the suggestion. Flowers said this “really stupid idea” has the “same sort of feel to it as the crusade to make high school bathrooms gender neutral, the push to allow girls to take girls to the prom, the inclusion of ‘Heather Has Two Daddies’ on elementary-school curriculums, the need to allow 10-year-old Geoffrey to wear a tutu to school on those days that he identifies as Giselle.” She further opined that casting the character as a lesbian would feed into the increasingly “overly sexualized” American society, equating LGBT identity with sexual practices.
Flowers herself illustrated the problem in her logic: It’s based in bigotry. She clearly is operating with some strong animus toward LGBT people, minimizing and attempting to trivialize efforts to use public accommodations safely, to have relationship recognition, to learn about diversity. That she cast the intense struggle trans kids face as a boy deciding to wear a tutu on some days shows how limited her knowledge is about the depth and breadth of the issues LGBT people face.
As a newspaper, we’re all about freedom of press and a balanced presentation of viewpoints and ideas; however, ideas that are rooted in bigotry are not only empty, they can be dangerous.
It’s a shame someone like that has a platform to spew bigotry. That’s what’s “really stupid.”