Supposedly, the character Gobber will subtly address his sexuality after watching a husband and wife arguing. Dean DeBlois, a writer-director for the film, said "I think that's a really fun [and] daring move to put in. I love the idea that Gobber is Berk's resident gay." Deblois himself is openly gay.
This isn't the first time in recent years that an animated character has been portrayed as being gay.
In the 2012 film, "ParaNorman", the character of Mitch was revealed to be gay by responding to being asked out to a movie by a girl with the line, "You're gonna love my boyfriend. He's like a total chick-flick nut!".
Then in the 2013 mega hit, "Frozen", the owner of the trading post, Oaken, was shown to have a husband and kids.
I think throwing LGBT characters into animated films is a brilliant idea. The trend so far has shown characters to mention their sexuality offhand, or it is merely shown, like in Frozen. None of the filmmakers are making a big fuss about these characters' sexuality, having a big spectacle of coming out, or even really having other characters react much. They are merely slipping them so kids watching won't think twice about Mitch having a boyfriend or Oaken having a husband instead of a wife.
Children aren't born bigoted or homophobic. Those are learned behaviors. If you tell a child they can love and marry either a boy or a girl, they'll accept it. It's that simple. So by putting LGBT characters into films directed towards children, children are being shown those characters are regular people too. These filmmakers are teaching children that people come in all kinds of variations, and that they should all be represented. It is especially great for the children who feel they are gay (or lesbian or bisexual etc) to see these characters because it shows them they aren't alone, and they ARE normal.
I really hope this trend continues to grow until having animated LGBT characters is just an everyday thing.
