Disney Unveils First Gay Love Song

Disney Unveils First Gay Love Song

High School Musical: The Musical: The Series made history in its July 16 episode, ‘The Transformation’ when it featured its first ever gay ballad called ‘In A Heartbeat’.

The gay love song on the Disney+ show is sung by Carlos played by Frankie A. Rodriguez to boyfriend Seb played by Joe Serafini after the couple have their first fight. In June 2021, the actors revealed they were also dating in real life. 

Making History

Frankie was the first openly gay character on High School Musical: The Musical: The Series since its 2019 premiere. The song marks a milestone for Disney. The song is catalysed by Seb wondering if Carlos loves him for himself or because he is the only other LBGTQ+ boy at school. In the song, Seb assures him he loves Carlos for him. 

“So so proud of Frankie A. Rodriguez making history with Disney’s very first lgbtq+ love song  directed by our fairy godmother Joanna Kerns,” Serafini posted on Instagram.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Joe Serafini (@joe_serafini_)

The original song is written by Los Angeles-based musician Will Jay, who credited Rodriquez for bringing it to life.

Series creator and showrunner Tim Federle,  told Huffington Post that he chose to avoid bullying or coming out storylines in the series, making the LGBTQI+ experience part of daily life, and not a plot-twist. 

Praise For The Song

Audience reactions have been positive, praising the normalisation of LGBTQI+ teenagers. Many users wished they had this representation when they were growing up. 

“If I had seen ‘In a heartbeat’ as a kid, I think my coming out would be more normalized and I’m so glad kids are gonna get to see this and see themselves in characters,” said one social media user.

There were others who pointed out to the issue of Disney not saying the word “gay”.

https://twitter.com/twiteric_/status/1416932003807703040

Backlash for the show has been swift. Washington State Family Policy Institute, a Christian group posted: “The pagan woke mob is continuing to shove the radical LGBT agenda down our children’s throats at every opportunity.”

You May Also Like

2 responses to “Disney Unveils First Gay Love Song”

  1. The cutest thing I’ve seen in recent times! I loved the lightness and naturalness of both the lyrics and the music video. It’s so romantic, so innocent. There is no reason for the radicals to want to say that this is sexualization because the language is super teen, identical to any straight teenage romantic scene.
    The fact that they don’t use the word “gay”, as the user pointed out, is a little uncomfortable, but at the same time I feel that this didn’t take away at all from the value of the message being conveyed. It made it even more natural. Love wins!

    Jessa C.

  2. Gosh, I want to love this. I just can’t get past how overproduced the music in this show is. :( Those smol, talented beans can really sing; they don’t need some wanker audio producer to recut it so badly.