Disney's Pixar abandons trans storyline in new 'Win or Lose' series
The Walt Disney Company is pulling the plug on an LGBT-related storyline in one of its upcoming children’s programs as backlash to the company’s embrace of LGBT ideology continues.
In a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter Monday, a spokesperson for Disney confirmed that the forthcoming Pixar animated series “Win or Lose” would no longer include an LGBT-related storyline. “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,” the entertainment company asserted.
In a statement shared with Deadline Tuesday, a trans-identified actor who goes by the name Chanel Stewart condemned the move as “disheartening,” adding, “From the moment I got the script, I was excited to share my journey to help empower other trans youth.” Stewart added, “I knew this would be a very important conversation. Trans stories matter, and they deserve to be heard.”
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Stewart had been cast as a trans-identified character in the series. The actor first discovered that Pixar, a division of the Walt Disney Company, was looking for a trans-identified teenager to voice a trans-identified character when looking through social media in 2020. Stewart, who was 14 at the time, ultimately got the role.
“I wore it as a badge. I wore it with pride. I wore it with honor because it meant so much to me. The thought of authentically portraying a transgender teenage girl made me really happy. I wanted to make this for transgender kids like me,” Stewart told Deadline.
Although Disney has made the decision to remove “a few lines of dialogue” from an episode that alludes to a character’s self-declared gender identity, Stewart will remain a part of the show. “It’s just that my character would now be a cis girl, a straight cis girl,” the actor lamented. “That’s all they really told me and that I’m still a part of the show.”
As explained in a description of the series on the Internet Movie Database, “Win or Lose” tells the story of a “middle school softball team in the week leading up to their championship game,” with each episode “told from the perspective of a different character.” The show, which is Pixar’s first-ever animated series, is slated to premiere on Feb. 19, 2025, and features the voice of “Saturday Night Live” alumnus Will Forte.
Disney’s decision to abandon a storyline focusing on a trans-identified character comes after the company drew outrage for its advocacy against a Parental Rights in Education bill passed in Florida in 2022. The measure, denounced by critics as the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, prohibits public school teachers and staff from discussing matters related to sexual orientation and gender identity with students in kindergarten through the third grade.
The following year, the Florida Board of Education amended the law to apply to all students through the 12th grade with exemptions in cases where “such instruction is either expressly required by state academic standards” or “is part of a reproductive health course or health lesson for which a student’s parent has the option to have his or her student not attend.”
Disney expressed vehement opposition to the initial bill, with the company’s then-CEO Bob Chapek vowing to increase “financial support for advocacy groups to combat similar legislation in other states.” In the weeks after Disney first made a commitment to combat the legislation, video recordings surfaced showing employees at the company discussing an effort to incorporate “queerness” into children’s programming.
Following the company’s embrace of LGBT ideology, a poll of 1,079 likely general election voters conducted by the Trafalgar Group in conjunction with Convention of States Action in April 2022 found that nearly 70% of Americans were less likely to do business with the company because of news reports that “reveal Disney is focusing on creating content to expose young children to sexual ideas.”
A Securities and Exchange Commission report published by Disney in 2023 expressed concern that “consumers’ perceptions of our position on matters of public interest, including our efforts to achieve certain of our environmental and social goals, often differ widely and present risks to our reputation and brands.”
Suggesting that its social activism could hurt its bottom line, the report stated, “our revenues and profitability are adversely impacted when our entertainment offerings and products, as well as our methods to make our offerings and products available to consumers, do not achieve sufficient consumer acceptance.”
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
