LAST WEEK, THE director of the upcoming live action version of Beauty and the Beast revealed that the film would feature Disney’s first ever gay scene.

Le Fou (played by Josh Gad) is confused about his sexuality and attracted to his boss Gaston (Luke Evans):

Over the past week, there’s been criticism of the decision from some extreme quarters – like Russia giving the film an adult-only rating, and Christian-run cinemas in the States banning it outright.

There’s over 100,000 signatures on a petition to boycott the film, and others have used it as a way to detract from it before it’s even released:

But a headline from Australian satirical website The Chaser on Sunday has gone viral, as it points out a rather glaring hypocrisy at the heart of the criticism

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The tone from the off is deliciously sarcastic:

Conservative pundits and cinemas alike are protesting the “unnatural” inclusion, with concerned parents asking how they are supposed to explain to their children that a film featuring a talking candle has a character who falls in love with another man.

It’s a sentiment that’s shared elsewhere

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People also pointed out Le Fou’s song about Gaston from the original contains some ~affectionate~ lyrics:

Gosh it disturbs me to see you, Gaston

Looking so down in the dumps

Ev’ry guy here’d love to be you, Gaston

Even when taking your lumps

There’s no man in town as admired as you

You’re ev’ryone’s favorite guy

Ev’ryone’s awed and inspired by you

And it’s not very hard to see why

Summed up concisely as

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Elsewhere, the move to be open about the character’s sexuality in the new film is being praised.

Sarah Kate Ellis, president of LGBTQ media campaign group GLAAD, told The Indpendent:

It’s a wonderful step forward. And this is incredibly important for the youth of today.

They need to see themselves reflected in the media they consume. More and more, as studios want to appeal to youth audiences, they’re going to have to include LGBTQ storylines and characters.

And now “woman-buffalo romance” has become a delightful meme thanks to that Chaser headline

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Bison-curious? That’ll do.

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