Christian conservative group Faith
Driven Consumers (FDC) claims that 95 percent of the 41 million
people it represents oppose Disney's introduction of a gay character
in its live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast.
According to director Bill Condon,
LeFou (played by Josh Gad) has an “exclusively gay moment” in the
film.
FDC said that the revelation makes 95
percent of the 41 million people that it claims to represent less
likely to see the film and nearly all of them are “now less likely
to spend money with Disney.”
FDC also said that a majority (58%) of
those it surveyed believe the “primary motivation” behind
Disney's decision to add a gay character to the film is to “normalize
homosexuality.”
FDC said that its opposition was not
rooted in “homophobia or bigotry” but was a reflection that
“there are many complex realities in the world that Faith Driven
Consumers simply do not wish to have addressed with their children
via entertainment, especially in a family movie.”
Beauty and the Beast is expected
to shatter box office records when it opens on Friday.