Idina Menzel Supports #GiveElsaAGirlfriend Campaign: Will Disney Be The First To Release An Animated Film With An Openly Gay Character?
While walking down the carpet for the 2016 Billboard Music Awards on Sunday, Entertainment Tonight asked Idina Menzel how she feels about the #GiveElsaAGirlfriend campaign, which is pushing for her character, Elsa, to have a female love interest in the sequel of Frozen. Idina Menzel has given her seal of approval for Elsa building a snowman with a girlfriend in the sequel of the film.
“I think it’s great that she’s stirring it up. Disney’s just gotta contend with that. I’ll let them figure that out.”
It was at the end of April when the hashtag #GiveElsaAGirlfriend started to trend after Alexis Isabel Moncada, the founder of Feminist Culture, first tweeted the request to Disney.
Nearly a month has passed since the hashtag #GiveElsaAGirlfriend started, and Twitter users are still using this hashtag and giving all sorts of justifications as to why Elsa, played by Idina Menzel, should have a girlfriend in the sequel.#GiveElsaAGirlfriend because a princess can date a beast but suddenly a girlfriend will ruin children's lives.
— Blast (@mokureio) May 23, 2016
One Twitter user says that if a Disney princess can love a beast, why can’t Idina Menzel’s character love a girl?
Another Twitter user believes this could be a huge milestone that allows children in the LGBTQ community to see that they are not alone and not so different from everyone else.
#GiveElsaAGirlfriend bc it's 2016, being LGBT+ shouldn't be looked down on as 'abnormal'. and ALL kids should feel loved and needed.
— Amber (@thegaybrit) May 17, 2016
A third Twitter users expresses that it is simply time for Disney to catch up with society and help everyone accept the LGBTQ community.
According to Christian Daily, not everyone is as supportive as Idina Menzel regarding the idea of Elsa having a girlfriend in the sequel. In fact, Gregory Mertz, a member of a social conservative group called CitizenGO, finds the thought of Idina Menzel’s character being a lesbian to be “terrifying.”
Members of the group CitizenGO are so petrified by the thought of Idina Menzel playing the role of a lesbian in the Frozen sequel that they have started a petition. Within the petition, the group asks Disney to follow their “normal” trend and allow a prince to fall in love with Elsa instead.
Please sign our petition to @Disney asking that Queen Elsa fall in love with a Prince: https://t.co/GGJ9ds7Cmu #CharmingPrinceForElsa
— CitizenGO (@CitizenGO) May 13, 2016
According to Christian Daily, the petition has gathered 65,000 signatures since it started. Gregory Mertz has also asked the members of the group and anyone who supports the petition to start using the #CharmingPrinceForElsa hashtag to counter the #GiveElsaAGirlfriend campaign.
.@DisneyPixar #CharmingPrinceForElsa Ask @Disney to stand for family values https://t.co/eCAI0e9FBJ
— Anna Sojourning (@saree_not_sorry) May 22, 2016
One Twitter user uses the hashtag to ask Disney to stand up for “family values.”
@Disney #CharmingPrinceForElsa
If You give Elsa a princess
That will be the BIGGEST mistake you will ever make.— Victoria Fairbrooks (@RFairbrooks) May 20, 2016
A second Twitter user says giving Elsa a girlfriend is the biggest mistake Disney could make.
WTF?! Elsa does NOT need to be a lesbian in Frozen2!!!! It's gotten out of hand!! This world is shot to hell!? #CharmingPrinceForElsa
— Deanna S (@Mommie4Life07) May 13, 2016
A third user claims the world is “getting out of hand” with the idea of having a gay princess.
There were also Twitter users who expressed how much they did not like the fact that a hashtag campaign had started to counter the idea of giving the character played by Idina Menzel a girlfriend.
this tag makes me embarrassed to be a human being #CharmingPrinceForElsa
— hmmm (@rturanimegc) May 13, 2016
One Twitter user says the hashtag makes her embarrassed to be a human being.
A second Twitter user says reading the tweets using this hashtag is causing her to lose brain cells.
Reverend Franklin Graham also spoke out about his opinion of the campaign to give Elsa a girlfriend. Unlike Idina Menzel, he openly talks about how “moral bankruptcy” is in human kind’s future if they throw all “biblical standards” out the window and allow the character played by Idina Menzel to have a girlfriend in the sequel of the film.
https://www.facebook.com/FranklinGraham/posts/1154724661250380
There are even some Twitter users who question why Elsa needs to end up with anyone. Couldn’t Idina Menzel just play the role of a hero? Why does there have to be a love interest at all?
What do you think about Idina Menzel playing the role of a gay princess in the Frozen sequel? Would you go see the film? Which side of this campaign are you supporting?
[Photo by David Becker/Getty Images]