Transgender actor “very disheartened” at Disney changing her character to cisgender
Win or Lose, Pixar‘s first long-form animated series has removed any dialogue that references a transgender teenage character’s gender identity.
The series will premiere on Disney+ in February and follows the members of a mixed-gender basketball group, The Pickles, as they approach their penultimate match of the season. The characters are voiced by many different comedians and actors, with Will Forte voicing their Head Coach.
However, the show was set to feature Pixar’s first transgender character, voiced by Chanel Stewart, but she will now be portrayed as cisgender. In a statement provided to The Hollywood Reporter, Disney explained their decision, “When it comes to animated content for a younger audience, we recognise that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline.”
Chanel Stewart is the young transgender actor who voices the character. Following the news, Stewart has said she is “very disheartened” by this change by Disney, saying, “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 has revealed that her character is still a major part of the show, but that she “would now be a cis girl, a straight cis girl”. The actor applied for the role after seeing a social media post from Pixar advertising a part for a transgender girl, recalling, “The thought of authentically portraying a transgender teenage girl made me really happy. I wanted to make this for transgender kids like me.”
Stewart’s mother also expressed frustration at the decision, explaining, “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 recognised. And it felt like it was just another setback for the LGBTQ community, because it’s very hard on transgender teenagers … transgender people, period.”
Disney has not commented further on the subject, but it has raised questions about their approach to portraying LGBTQ+ characters on screen, with the studio being criticised for this in the past after their involvement in the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill in Florida.
The studio has claimed to be more inclusive in recent years. Their 2022 film Lightyear briefly featured two women kissing, and a character was implied to be gay in the 2017 Beauty and the Beast adaptation. However, this was allegedly implied through a hug between two men, with the studio facing criticism for their watered-down portrayal of queer characters.
Win or Lose will be released on February 19th, with Brendan Beesley, Brandon Kern and Tom Zach acting as the lead animators on the series.
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