OnwardOnward, Pixar’s first non-sequel movie since 2017’s Coco, notably features the studio’s first openly gay character. Queen & Slim screenwriter Lena Waithe plays a cyclops cop named Officer Spector who appears in two scenes. In the first, she commiserates with her fellow officer, Mel Rodriquez’s centaur cop Colt Bronco, about being a new stepparent, saying, “My girlfriend’s daughter got me pulling my hair out.”

This one line, delivered in passing with no follow-up, marks the first verbal recognition of a character’s gay relationship in an animated Disney movie. It’s a step forward for the company, which has been making moves toward better LGBTQ representation in recent years. But fully embracing the LGBTQ community means going beyond small gestures of inclusivity. Stigmas against portraying queer relationships in children’s entertainment have been thoroughly smashed, with beloved animated series like Steven Universe and Arthur telling thoughtful LGBTQ stories in a family-friendly way. Officer Spector’s throwaway line still leaves Disney/Pixar miles behind its competitors.

Fans have been calling for more LGBTQ representation in Disney movies for years, most notably with the #GiveElsaAGirlfriend movement. Many queer viewers saw a kindred spirit in Elsa, reading her hidden ice powers as a metaphor for hidden sexuality. “Let it Go” became a coming-out anthem, and the hashtag was born in the hopes that Frozen 2 would canonically confirm Elsa as Disney’s first lesbian princess. The Frozen 2 soundtrack reignited the potential relationship. Elsa’s new ballad, “Show Yourself,” sounded pretty dang gay. With lyrics like, “I have always been a fortress, cold secrets deep inside / You have secrets too, but you don’t have to hide” and, “I am found,” it was easy to imagine number as a lesbian meet-cute, especially since the other voice on the track was Evan Rachel Wood, who is openly bisexual and a vocal LGBTQ advocate. But instead of Elsa’s girlfriend, Wood appeared as the spirit of Elsa and Anna’s mom. While there are plenty of queer themes present in Frozen 2, it’s all subtext.

When it comes to Disney movies, LGBTQ fans have been conditioned to project queerness onto anyone we can. Disney villains have been queer-coded for decades, and in more recent years, fans have scoured Disney movies for the slightest indication of a same-sex relationship. Eagle-eyed Frozen viewers noticed that, when the shopkeeper Oaken introduces his family, it looks like he’s pointing to four smaller figures surrounding a large man. Many fans speculated that the strapping blonde hunk was Oaken’s husband, but the filmmakers never confirmed whether that was the case. Similarly, both Pixar’s Toy Story 4 and Finding Dory feature potential lesbian couples in the background, but the Finding Dory filmmakers demurred when pressed, saying “They can be whatever you want them to be.”

Whether animators covertly added those gay moments, or it’s just fans projecting, the best-case scenario for Disney is to let LGBTQ communities celebrate potentially gay characters without the company having to acknowledge their queerness. Disney’s audience is huge, and unfortunately, it includes vocal homophobes — both in the States and in international markets, including countries where being gay can land you in jail — as well as queer viewers desperate for representation. If the company could get away with continuing to avoid taking sides and alienating either faction (i.e. losing their money), it certainly would. But as LGBTQ fans and allies have gotten louder in their calls for Disney to commit to representation — not to mention competitors like Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network making comparatively larger and earlier strides forward — Disney has been forced to catch up.