Do Hollywood’s recent ‘gay moments’ represent progress?

Ahug. A wink. A dance. A nonanswer. These are the so-called gay moments in a handful of recent high-profile studio movies that have sparked both rapturous celebration and startling backlash.

From Sulu in “Star Trek Beyond” to LeFou in “Beauty and the Beast” and now Trini in “Power Rangers,” the latest Hollywood fascination is the subtle nod that a once straight or undefined character is now or has always been gay.

But it’s often so subtle that if it wasn’t first discussed by filmmakers or actors, it’s a wonder whether anyone would notice at all. Sulu can be seen hugging a man. LeFou winks at Gaston and later dances with a man. And Trini fails to answer a flirty question about whether she’s having “boyfriend problems” … or “girlfriend problems?”

What are we to make of these “blink and you’ll miss them” moments in a year when “Moonlight,” with its explicit exploration of gay themes, can rise to become the best picture winner at the Academy Awards? Is this progress? For some, it is. For others, it’s too much acclaim for too little action.

Buzzfeed film critic Alison Willmore wrote an article last week exploring the “outsized credit” that Hollywood is getting for the recent “seriously small moments of LGBT inclusivity.” significant youth audiences. A film like “Moonlight,” she noted, is a mature film that came out from an independent distributor and producer.

“LGBT youth have a right to see their happily ever after, too,” Ellis said.

A recent exhaustive GLAAD study found that 20 percent of millennials identify as LGBT — a statistic she thinks might have contributed to social media movements like the #GiveElsaAGirlfriend and #GiveCaptainAmerica ABoyfriend campaigns.

Ellis knows the “moments” are just a first step — she would like to eventually see LGBT protagonists in all-ages films — but for her, it shows that major studios, often too risk averse to change, are making an effort to test the waters.

For years, writers, fans and LGBT scholars have enjoyed speculating about which Disney characters were secretly gay — from “The Lion King’s” isolated bachelor Scar to the marriage-averse Merida from “Brave.” But none have ever been outwardly confirmed as such.

It’s also noteworthy that all three recent “gay moment” examples can be justified as tributes to the unsung gay history behind many of these stories. LGBT activist George Takei originated the character of Sulu. The late lyricist Howard Ashman wrote much of “Beauty and the Beast” while dying of AIDS and passed away before the film came out. And, in the

KIMBERLY FRENCH/LIONSGATE Becky G. portrays Trini in “Power Rangers,” the latest high-profile movie to include a so-called gay moment.