Brave opened as the number one movie in the US over the weekend earning $66 million, and proving that a princess’s don’t need princes, or a wedding. In fact, Brave's heroine, Merida may not be interested in boys at all.

Entertainment Weekly’s Adam Markovitz has come under fire for suggesting in his latest blog post that the arrow-wielding, suitor-denying princess in Pixar’s latest animated feature might be gay.

“Could Merida be gay? Absolutely. She bristles at the traditional gender roles that she's expected to play. Her love of unprincess-like hobbies, including archery and rock-climbing, is sure to strike a chord with gay viewers who felt similarly "not like the other kids" growing up.”

Markovitz’s post sparked intense debate and social-media activity some agreed, some disagreed and some just took it as an opportunity to write something sleazy.

But let’s get one thing straight (no pun intended) no where in the film does the character ‘come out’ as a lesbian. Nothing in the story implies that she’s attracted to other women or men either for that matter. And neither Pixar nor Disney has made any official attempt to tell the gay community that Merida might be one of them.

But what her character does bring to the table is a new free-thinking attitude to the club of bland Disney princesses of the past, one that’s sure to appeal not just to gays, but to anyone who ever challenged their identity.

Regardless of whether or not it was intended Merida may become an unofficial gay icon, and on that note she is already an unofficial ranga icon.