Beauty and the Beast’s gay character, RuPaul launches on new channel, Ryan Murphy suffers TV industry homophobia & more: the biggest international LGBT stories in today’s Cuppán Gay

• RuPaul will be moving from LogoTV to the mainstream VH1. Since the show began in 2009, it has been aired on LogoTV with the huge success of the series making it LogoTV’s most prized show. “Broadcasting the show on VH1 will allow more fans to experience the energy, heart and talent these fierce queens bring to the stage every week,” said Pamela Post from Logo. (Pink News)

Sashay, shantay, it’s time for @VH1 to make room for another runway! Move over #ANTM, #DragRace S9 will premiere on @VH1 3/24 at 8/7c! ?9⃣? pic.twitter.com/OzIfGXwyLI

— RuPaul's Drag Race (@RuPaulsDragRace) March 1, 2017

• Disney’s Beauty and the Beast will have a gay character. The director of the live action remake, Bill Condon, has revealed that there will be a gay storyline in the film. The film will mark the first time Disney have included an openly gay character in their movie, Gaston’s sidekick, LeFou. Condon said that LeFou “is somebody who on one day wants to be Gaston and on another day wants to kiss Gaston.” (ABC)

• Ryan Murphy was mocked by TV executives because of his ‘gay voice’. The man behind Glee and American Horror Story was shocked when he experience homophobia in the TV industry. “I had one meeting with an executive about a script and I showed up at the meeting and he started imitating my voice and sort of making feminine hand gestures, which I don’t have,” Murphy said. “I literally was stunned into silence.” (GSN)

• Sir Ian McKellen opens a new gay rights exhibition in Manchester. The 77 year old actor and LGBT advocate will open the ‘Never Going Underground’ exhibit in Manchester this month which charts “the complex and compelling story of a long and often bumpy journey” toward LGBT equality in Britain. (Attitude)

• Homophobe arrested in Key West for hate crime against gay couple. After issuing a warrant for the arrest of the man who perpetrated the homophobic hate-crime against a gay couple last week, a suspect has been arrested. The man is accused of shouting homophobic slurs at the couple and saying “You live in Trump country now.” (Towleroad)

• One in five gay men in France plan to vote for anti-gay marriage right-wing politician, Marine LePen. A poll from dating app Horney indicated that 19.2% of users plan to vote for Le Pen, with 38.1% planning to vote for the centrist candidate, Emmanuel Macron, who plans to advocate for LGBT rights. (Pink News)

That’s it for today’s Cuppán Gay.