Queer coding is the subtextual portrayal of a queer character in the media whose identity is not explicitly confirmed within canon. This concept refers to a character that encapsulates what might be considered "queer traits" that are recognizable to the audience, but are never labeled or claimed by the content creator. The identification itself of "queer traits" is constantly up for debate within queer communities, but an overexaggeration of masculine or feminine behaviors appears to be at the forefront. This concept is especially useful in the discussion of the Media portrayal of LGBT people and queer representation as a whole. Queer-coding can apply to both queerness in reference to sexuality and to narrative queerness, although it is primarily used culturally to apply to the former. It is a useful term not only in discussions of LGBTQ+ representation in media, but in conducting academic research involving queer theory or gender studies.
Impact
Queer-coding is similar to that of queerbaiting in that they both involve implicit undertones of queerness, but unlike queerbaiting's negative connotation, queer-coding is somewhat of a neutral trope. That being said, its neutrality does not exclude its negative impact, such as the tendency for villains to be the queer-coded opposite of the standard masculine male hero. Some members of the queer community have argued that the Walt Disney Company has attributed queer characteristics and behaviors to villainous or antagonistic characters.. Many believe Andreas Deja, a gay man and supporting animator for Scar and Jafar, based them on himself. However, Andreas actually based Scar on his English languagevoice actorJeremy Irons, and Jafar's appearance by Conrad Veidt, an actor famous for his villainous roles who was heterosexual. Jonathan Freeman, Jafar's voice actor, claims his voice was inspired by Vincent Price and Boris Karloff, two actors famous for their villainous roles. Culture critics have claimed that this attribution can lead to a negative association between queerness and immoral, licentious behavior. Even if the villains were not portrayed as “evil” because of their queerness, the association between queer characteristics and unethical figures remains.
History
The idea of non explicit queer-coding likely stems from the strict regulations of how queer characters were able to be portrayed in the early days of film-making. In 1930, The Hays Code was established as a standard for what was allowed to be shown on the big screen. According to the code, films were not allowed to portray "perverse" subjects such as homosexuality, which inevitably led to the portrayal of non-explicit queer characters. The trend of the inclusivity of queer characters in a subtextual way likely bled into modern portrayals of queer characters. 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.
