The New Power Rangers Movie Is Bringing Us An Openly Gay Movie Superhero

It’s been a big month for gay visibility in major movies. After years of criticism of Disney for never including LGBT characters in their movies, they brought us Lefou in Beauty & The Beast (who admittedly isn’t exactly out and proud – but he’s certainly queer), and now it’s been revealed that one of the new Power Rangers will be openly gay.

One part of the movie, according to THR, is that Yellow Ranger, Trini, played Becky G, doesn’t just have to deal with the pressures of being a teen superhero, but is also coming to terms with her sexuality. Director Dean Israelite comments, “For Trini, really she’s questioning a lot about who she is. She hasn’t fully figured it out yet. I think what’s great about that scene and what that scene propels for the rest of the movie is, ‘That’s OK.’ The movie is saying, ‘That’s OK,’ and all of the kids have to own who they are and find their tribe.”

It doesn’t sound like this is a big part of the film, as it’s talked about in terms of being a ‘moment’ and a ‘pivotal scene’, so don’t expect too much of an exploration of Trini’s sexuality. However, it’s still very unusual for a film like this to have a major gay character. Indeed, Hollywood has a long history of straight-washing anything even vaguely queer in the superhero world, so it’s certainly progress. Hopefully, following the success of Beauty & The Beast, Power Rangers will be a big enough hit that it won’t scare Hollywood off from more LGBT representation in their biggest movies.