Whooot whoot!!

Disney Channel is officially bumping up its diversity efforts. The television channel recently confirmed that it is debuting its first bisexual lead character in a new series. Disney’s latest series “The Owl House” is an American animated fantasy television series created by Dana Terrace and premiered earlier this year on January 10, 2020.

Luz Noceda is the series’ 14-year-old Dominican-American girl and the channel’s first LGBTQ+ character.

#TheOwlHouse the perfect family sitcom with witches and demons for silly kids comes back next Saturday on @DisneyChannel 🦉 💫✨

📹 SlatzD pic.twitter.com/HSpA0dzeVZ

— Disney TV Animation News (@DisneyTVANews) July 5, 2020

While Luz isn’t the first LGBTQ+ Disney character to be featured on Disney (that goes to a character in Pixar’s short “Out” on Disney Plus) she is the first bisexual character to appear on a Disney television series.

“The Owl House” is a series that follows Luz a teenage girl who accidentally falls into a portal leading to another world instead of going to a juvenile detention summer camp.

Speaking about making Luz, her creator Dana Terrace shared that initially “certain Disney leadership” had not been thrilled about the LGBTQ+ character.

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

“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,” she explained in a tweet. “I was told by certain Disney leadership that I could not represent any form of bi or gay relationship on the channel.”

Terrace, who identifies as bisexual, said she fought hard to have Luz be bisexual on the Disney series as well. “Luckily my stubbornness paid off, and now I am very supported by current Disney leadership,” she explained.

Fortunately, viewers have given Terrace and her character quite a bit of support.

I can’t put into words how thankful I am for you in creating this show! As someone who is gay myself & never went to prom either cause I was too scared, this episode spoke to me a lot. I really hope we can see Disney pull through and explore them together more than just—

— Madzuka Maison (@madzukie) August 9, 2020

Fans of the series have thanked Noceda for bringing the representation of the LGBTQ+ community to Disney.

I thank you so much for this
I didn’t know being gay even existed Till I was 11 cause I went to a catholic school
I found out when my cousin married her girlfriend
LGBT representation is so important for kids trying to find themselves and I thank you so much for including it

— TheBlightStack (@BlightStack) August 14, 2020

Alex Hirsch, the creator of Disney’s “Gravity Falls,” shared in the comments that Disney kept him from including LGBTQ+ in his series. “Apparently ‘happiest place on earth’ meant ‘straightest,'” he remarked. “Thanks to Dana Terrace and team, there are explicitly queer animated main characters on Disney TV… This time, Disney- you did good.”

In response to all of her support, Terrace urged her supporters to continue to fight for representation on-screen and other forms of media. “Representation matters!” she exclaimed.

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Few days are as important or as celebrated as a teenager’s 15th birthday. So imagine the level of selflessness one must have to be able to say ‘no, I don’t want any of the celebration, I rather help out my community.’

Well, one teen in Merida, Mexico did just that this week when she told her family ‘thanks, but no thanks’ to her big quince and instead used the money that had been raised for her special day to help out her neighbors who have been impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic.

Her party was canceled thanks to Coronavirus, so she decided to help out those less fortunate.

“En vez de la fiesta, prefiero regalar comida a la gente, que se ayuden con eso”, compartió la quinceañera de Mérida https://t.co/PnqXcwvSxn

— @diario24horas (@diario24horas) August 6, 2020

In many countries across Latin America, the quinceañera is a huge milestone for teenagers. Beautiful dresses, visits from the entire family, big parties, and the best gifts are the norm at most quinces. But for 15-year-old Jiromy Xool Pech, instead of spending money on a lavish birthday celebration, she opted to use her party funds to help feed the needy.

Jiromy and her family had long planned her quinceañera – she had been looking forward to it for years. But with the pandemic hitting her community in Mérida particularly hard, the teen decided to put the party aside and use everything that had been invested in the ceremony to help her neighbors who have been impacted by the pandemic.

“Instead of partying, I prefer to give food to people, to help them with that,” Jiromy told El Universal. Jiromy not only asked to donate the money for her quince to the community, but she was also out there helping distribute the food to her neighbors.

Jiromy and her family weren’t alone in helping out the community either. Much of the food that was given out was prepared from by neighbors and local businesses that came to join Jiromy’s cause once word began to spread.

Unfortunately, many quinceañeras have been canceled or postponed thanks to the Coronavirus pandemic.

One of Mexico City’s most famous markets for buying quince dresses – el Mercado Lagunilla – has been closed for three months. This ins’t just hating a major impact on dressmakers and salespeople, but it also means that young teens aren’t able to buy the dresses to celebrate their big day.

But not all is completely lost: there are those who have begun to return, like Ximena González, who came with her family to try on dresses. Her quince was scheduled for May 16, but the pandemic changed everything, and now they expect it to take place in November.

“I was scared and upset but I had to accept it. Some friends can no longer go because they are moving,” she told El Universal. She added, “I hope that when it is my party the infections have gone down and that everything is done as if nothing had happened.”

Mexico has been hit particularly hard by the pandemic, including Jiromy’s hometown of Merida.

Jiromy’s selfless act to help her community comes as Mexico continues to see record breaking numbers of cases. Tens of thousands are dying and even more are losing their jobs and being forced back into poverty.

As of August 6, Mexico has more than 456,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 49,698 people have died from the virus. In Jiromy’s state of Yucatan, there have been more than 10,000 cases of the virus and it’s had a huge impact on tourism, which is a major economic force in the state. Therefore, it makes sense that the 15-year-old thought it was important to use the money raised for her party to help those who are suffering financially.

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