Disney is currently working on a sequel to its megahit animated musical Frozen, and a lot of people on Twitter have a simple request—make the powerful ice princess Elsa the first LGBT princess in the Disney canon, and give her a girlfriend.
Elsa, voiced by Broadway legend Idina Menzel, is already different from most Disney (DIS) princesses in that she doesn’t have a love interest—that storyline is saved for her younger sister Anna, voiced by Kristin Bell.
The hashtag #GiveElsaAGirlfriend made the rounds on Twitter Monday, supporting the idea.
https://twitter.com/thejeffreymarsh/status/726778366959968256
https://twitter.com/feministgals/status/727190925189861376
#GiveElsaAGirlfriend because 1 in 5 kids are queer, but only 1 in 10 feel safe enough to come out.
— mimi ♡ (@mimiIlion) May 1, 2016
Frozen already has a special place with some LGBT people and supporters. Many viewed the story—where Elsa has to hide who she really is, i.e., her off-the-hook ice powers, in order to be accepted by her friends and family—as a metaphor for the struggle that many LGBT youth feel when coming out to those closest to them. Plus, leading man Kristoff was the first Disney prince to be voiced by an openly gay man, Jonathan Groff.
A request for comment from Disney was not immediately returned. The first Frozen movie brought in more than a billion dollars at the box office, and the sequel stands to be just as popular.