The Walt Disney Company has decided to delete an LGBT-related storyline from an upcoming children's program amid ongoing backlash against its support for LGBT ideology.
In a statement shared with The Hollywood Reporter on Monday, a Disney spokesperson confirmed that the upcoming Pixar animated series “Win or Lose” would no longer feature the LGBT storyline.
The spokesperson stated, “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.”
In response to the news, Chanel Stewart, a trans-identified actor cast as a trans character in the series, condemned the decision as “disheartening.” Stewart expressed her disappointment, saying, “I knew this would be a very important conversation. Trans stories matter, and they deserve to be heard.”
Stewart, who first learned about Pixar's search for a trans-identified teenager in 2020 while looking through social media, was cast for the role when she was just 14 years old.
Although Disney has decided to remove “a few lines of dialogue” from an episode that references a character’s self-declared gender identity, Stewart will still be part of the show. She criticized, “It’s just that my character would now be a cis girl, a straight cis girl. That’s all they really told me and that I’m still a part of the show.”
According to the description of “Win or Lose” on the Internet Movie Database, the series follows a middle school softball team in the week leading up to their championship game, with each episode told from a different character's perspective. Slated to premiere on February 19, 2025, it marks Pixar's first-ever animated series.
Disney’s choice to drop the storyline focused on a trans-identified character follows growing outrage regarding the company's opposition to a Parental Rights in Education bill passed in Florida in 2022. This measure, labeled the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by critics, prohibits public school teachers from discussing sexual orientation and gender identity with students in kindergarten through third grade.
In light of Disney's advocacy for LGBT issues, a poll conducted by the Trafalgar Group in April 2022 revealed that nearly 70% of Americans were less likely to do business with the company in response to media reports indicating Disney was focusing on creating content that exposes young children to sexual ideas.
Furthermore, 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.”
