Queer coding

In 1930, the Hays Code was established, which regulated the content of films and prohibited the portrayal of homosexuality.

[2] In animation, cartoon artists were able to portray the gender of characters in androgynous, asexual, and gender-fluid ways.

[6] Commentary on the treatment of LGBT+ characters in film is made in the 1995 documentary The Celluloid Closet, and is one of the first instances in which the idea of queer coding is presented to the public.

Critics have noted the Walt Disney Company's attribution of queer characteristics and behaviors to villainous or antagonistic characters.

"[25] However, critics regarded such queer-coded villains as contributing to "homophobic discourse" and equating queerness with evil itself.

[26][27] Other critics have claimed that this attribution can lead to a negative association between queerness and immoral, licentious behavior.