Disney Channel had its first openly gay character in 2017. It took three more years for the network to greenlight a show centered on a bisexual lead.
The Owl House follows 14-year-old Luz Noceda, a Dominican-American girl trying to become a witch despite a lack of magical powers. It premiered all the way back in January, but the events of a recent episode brought Luz’s sexuality to the foreground.
In “Enchanting Grom Fright,” recurring character Amity takes on Grometheus, a monster at the magical world’s version of prom. Grometheus’s power is capitalizing on its opponent’s biggest fear which, in Amity’s case, is rejection from the recipient of a letter she never sent.
Grometheus tears the letter in half, the bottom half revealing that it was a letter asking someone to the dance. The two share a sort of dance-fight, defeat Grometheus, and are named Grom Queens. At the end of the scene, the second half of the letter is shown, revealing that Luz was the intended recipient.
That episode aired on August 8 and creator Dana Terrace, who is bi herself, took to Twitter the next day. In a thread, she confirmed that, yes, Luz is bisexual, and provided more details on what inspired the episode and what she had to do to get a bi character onto the Disney Channel.
In dev I was very open about my intention to put queer kids in the main cast. I'm a horrible liar so sneaking it in would've been hard haha. When we were greenlit I was told by certain Disney leadership that I could NOT represent any form of bi or gay relationship on the Channel.
— Dana Terrace (@DanaTerrace) August 9, 2020
Representation matters! Always fight to make what YOU want to see! As OH continues I can't wait to explore things that are important to me and my crew. Looking forward to the next chapter. 🦉💕
…Which is next week in WING IT LIKE WITCHES!
Thank you for watching! #TheOwlHouse pic.twitter.com/U8PHHT2g91— Dana Terrace (@DanaTerrace) August 9, 2020
Some parents were not pleased with the news. Their generational objection was to a children’s show that taught young kids about sexuality. The obvious implication is that standard heterosexual love stories are, to them, “normal” and therefore fine.
Thus, preventing kids from seeing a love story like that of Luz and Amity isn’t about keeping kids from learning about sexuality; it’s about keeping them from sexualities their parents don’t like, couched in a hollow “save the children” justification.
Thankfully, Terrace shows no signs of compromising her vision for the show, and we would be surprised if it didn’t further explore these issues as Luz makes her way through her teenage years.
