Should 'Frozen''s Elsa Have a Girlfriend? Idina Menzel Weighs In
by EG
Idina Menzel, who gave voice to the character of Elsa in Disney's Frozen, gave a very brief word of support to the online campaign to give Elsa a same-sex love interest in the sequel to the animated hit. Menzel answered a question from Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet of Sunday's Billboard Music Awards, and she was clear that she supports the idea.
"I think it's great," she said of the #GiveElsaAGirlfriend push, which is making some noise on the internet. "Disney's just gotta contend with that. I'll let them figure that out."
The studio will, indeed, have to contend with the voices encouraging it to broaden the scope of its stories and include openly LGBTQ characters in its films, something it has yet to do.
"Giving young girls the chance to understand that a princess can love another princess the same way Cinderella loved her Prince Charming is vital to their development," said Alexis Isabel, the writer who launched the #GiveElsaAGirlfriend hashtag.
The movement doesn't seem to address, however, the question of why Elsa needs to have a love interest at all, regardless of gender. It was the character's love for her sister that motivated the character in the original film, giving us a Disney princess who was refreshingly not defined by romance.