Summary

• LeFou's portrayal as a gay character in Beauty and the Beast was not explicitly clear, leading to criticism and accusations of queerbaiting.
• Actor Josh Gad, who played LeFou, expressed regret that the film did not go further in depicting a gay character in a Disney movie.
• Critics and Gad believe that if LeFou was intended to be Disney's first openly gay character, it should have been made more explicit and handled better in the film.

LeFou is a secondary antagonist in 2017's Beauty and the Beast, and several changes are made to him from the original animated feature - however, Josh Gad has some regrets about the final character in the film. Beauty and the Beast is a live-action remake of the classic Disney animation of the same name, telling the story of the beautiful Belle (Emma Watson) and the hideous cursed Beast (Dan Stevens) that she falls in love with. The film includes magically cursed household objects that sing and dance, and of course, the villainous Gaston (Luke Evans) and his sidekick LeFou (Josh Gad).

Like many of Disney's live-action adaptations, there were many changes made to the original Beauty and the Beast. Belle becomes more of an inventor, creating a proto-washing-machine while still living in town, as well as teaching younger girls to read. There are new songs included, as well as new backstory for Belle's mother, and an added scene where Belle attempts to escape her tower when first captured. However, one of the changes that created the most buzz was the report that LeFou would become a gay character in the film.

Is LeFou Gay In Beauty And The Beast?

In the live-action Beauty and the Beast, several scenes suggest that LeFou is gay, and in love with Gaston. Throughout the film, it is suggested that his sidekick status is down to his unspoken love for the villain, as he constantly compliments him and talks him up, even paying other villagers to him. He also spends a fair bit of time gazing longingly at him, although this isn't made explicit. However, in an interview, director Bill Condon explicitly describes the relationship as one where LeFou is definitely in love with him. "LeFou is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston" He continued with a mention of "a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie.” to come.

a nice, exclusively gay moment in a Disney movie.

This was big news for Disney, but the on-screen payoff didn't quite live up to the expectations this interview set. The final film includes a conversation that LeFou has with Mrs Potts (Emma Thompson) where he talks about the two 'not being in a good place' and both agree that LeFou is 'too good for' Gaston, anyway. This can be interpreted romantically, but it's explicit. Finally, LeFou is seen dancing with Stanley at the very end of the movie, however, he is also seen dancing with one of the Bimbettes, and nothing beyond a dance is shown on-screen.

Josh Gad Regrets That "We didn’t go far enough" With LeFou In Beauty And The Beast

As a result of the very ambiguous ending for LeFou, the film received backlash for queerbaiting, with the promise of that 'exclusively gay moment' and Disney's first openly gay character going unfulfilled. Actor Josh Gad, who played LeFou, spoke to The Independent about the situation in 2022, revealing that he didn't think that the movie did enough for the character.

We didn’t go far enough to warrant accolades. We didn’t go far enough to say, ‘Look how brave we are.’ My regret in what happened is that it became ‘Disney’s first explicitly gay moment’ and it was never intended to be that. It was never intended to be a moment that we should laud ourselves for, because frankly, I don’t think we did justice to what a real gay character in a Disney film should be. That was not LeFou. If we’re going to pat ourselves on the back, then damn it we should have gone further with that. Everybody deserves an opportunity to see themselves on screen, and I don’t think we’ve done enough – and I certainly haven’t done enough to do that.

It's clear that Gad's issue with the way the character was handled is simply that if he were to truly become the 'first openly gay Disney character', that should not have been subtly hinted, but made explicitly clear. This is very much in line with what critics of the movie had to say - that having LeFou as a gay character works for the film, but that it was simply not well handled.