Disney has pulled a transgender storyline from the upcoming Pixar animated series Win Or Lose – and the actress playing the character in question has spoken out.
The show, which is set to premiere on Disney+ on February 19 next year and features Will Forte as Coach Dan, will no longer include a transgender story arc in an episode, The Hollywood Reporter has revealed.
Win Or Lose centres around a co-ed middle school softball team, the Pickles, in the week leading up to their championship game. Each of the eight episodes will focus on the off-the-field life of a character, whether they’re a member of the team, a parent, a coach, or an umpire.
A spokesperson for Disney confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that the storyline had been removed, giving this explanation in a statement: “When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognize that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline.”
Reportedly, the character in question will remain in the show, but a few lines of dialogue that reference gender identity have been removed. Disney declined to comment on any additional details.
However, Chanel Stewart, who plays the character in question, has spoken out. Stewart, who was 14 years old when she saw that Pixar was looking for a transgender girl to voice a trans teenager in a new animated series in 2020, told Deadline: “I was very disheartened. From the moment I got the script, I was excited to share my journey to help empower other trans youth. I knew this would be a very important conversation. Trans stories matter, and they deserve to be heard.”
Stewart’s mother, Keisha, said: “It was upsetting because my daughter is transgender and this is her life. I felt like it was very important that we not hide that fact.
“There may be some parents out there who are not ready to have that conversation, but this is the world that we live in and everyone should be represented. Everyone deserves to be recognized. And it felt like it was just another setback for the LGBTQ community, because it’s very hard on transgender teenagers … transgender people, period. Especially when you’re young and you’re trying to figure out how to navigate this world that you live in and be able to grow into your own person.”
Stewart didn’t share any further details, but said she was told by Disney that she’s “still a part of the show heavily.” She added: “It’s just that my character would now be a cis girl, a straight cis girl. So yeah, that’s all they really told me and that I was still a part of the show.”
However, she said of her voiceover role: “I’m definitely one of the first [transgender girls] to do this! It’s a true honor to be a part of queer history.”
This isn’t the first time Disney has found itself mired in controversy regarding LGBTQ+ issues in recent years. In March 2022, the company’s CEO apologised to employees for silence over Florida’s controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill. That same month, it was reported that Pixar restored the same-sex kiss in Lightyear following a backlash after it was cut.
In 2020, meanwhile, Pixar’s Onward was banned in multiple Middle Eastern countries due to a reference to a same-sex relationship – the movie was Pixar’s first to feature a lesbian character.
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