Comedy legend Margaret Cho has some thoughts about Disney and queer representation, and she is right.
Cho is starring in Disney’s upcoming new teen romcom Prom Pact as Mrs. Chen, the queer school counselor. Her inclusion is certainly a step in the right direction when it comes to representation at Disney, but she’s ready for it to continue taking strides forward. “That is important to recognize. We are everywhere in society. So this is just another example of that where I think we belong,” Cho told Times of India.
‘I would love to see [queer lead characters] everywhere. I would love to see trans characters and different types of people in roles like Disney Princess, Disney Prince, and Disney everything,” she said. “I think this would be really important and it’s a move towards the future. It’s a move towards who we are. I think it’s really admirable and really exciting.”
For Cho, queer inclusion was a major part of the reason that she wanted to sign on for the role. “I play a Queer character in the film who’s somebody that the kids look up to, which I think is really amazing,” she shared.
Courtesy of Disney
As she explained, it mirrors important elements of her own life. “I was looking to the aunties in my life and everybody who was there on the sidelines supporting me, especially the Queer parts of my family,” she recalled. “I grew up in the queer community, so that for me was a real homage to this character.”
While Prom Pact may not feature a central queer love story, it does include LGBTQ+ elements, including queer couples going to prom, who even — gasp — dance with one another there. Considering Disney’s rocky history with queer rep, it feels like a course correction.
But seriously, Disney, can we get a trans Disney princess? Because that would be incredible.
