It feels like we are regressing as a society when it comes to LGBTQ rights. Here in the UK, the Labour government recently upheld a ban on puberty blockers for transgender kids under the age of eighteen, while debates about trans athletes dominated the Olympics, despite no trans person competing. Our general existence has become a political punching bag. It sucks, and as a trans person, it can be hard to keep going sometimes.
But you turn this anger into hope, and remain confident that there are more good people in this world than bad who either don’t think much about transgender people living their lives (the vast majority), or do all they can to support them. We also search for purpose and representation in popular culture, which for younger audiences normally means the shows they watch, video games they play, and people they follow online. There is plenty of positive queer reinforcement to be found, but again and again, the biggest corporations on the planet have made it clear we are nothing more than a demographic to be taken advantage of.
Pixar And Disney Are Once Again Silencing Transgender Stories
Last month I wrote about an episode of Marvel’s Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur that was due to air but was pulled following the US election due to its focus on a supporting transgender character being rejected by a transphobic volleyball team coach. It is a story that clearly acts as commentary on the grim situation regarding trans people in sports right now, which has surfaced time and time again as a reason to demonise a minority group, accusing what is such a miniscule percentage of athletes in the first place of transitioning merely so they can compete in the opposing gender sports with a better chance of winning. It is nonsense.
The team behind Moon Girl knows this, and spends much of the (cancelled, then leaked) episode exploring how this assumption has become the source of despair for so many transgender people, especially teenagers trying to embrace their true identity only to be pulled into a culture war they want no part in. Much like reality though, she isn’t alone and has the support of cis friends who are willing to see this character for who they are and face up against the forces of prejudice.
It is a story of good versus evil that thousands of kids’ shows have explored to great effect, but because this one happens to revolve around a trans kid competing in sports, Disney decided to pull it from any form of potential release. Whether this decision was made because of the subject matter has not been confirmed, but you only need to read between the lines to acknowledge the reason.
This was disappointing, speaking to a stifling of queer stories that, for Disney, is sadly routine at this point. Reports claimed that Pixar wanted to ensure there was no way audiences could interpret Riley as queer in Inside Out 2, while countless films from Star Wars to Pixar to Marvel have scenes of representation edited out for certain international markets.
A few years ago it felt Disney was making strides in the right direction with shows like The Owl House and Amphibia, but as I’d cover them and speak with the talented creators behind each one, it was clear that much of this queerness was made possible by the people in the trenches, while those sitting safely in boardrooms considered this representation expendable whether it stood in the way of profits. Alex Hirsch, creator of Gravity Falls, summed up this artistic frustration best.
Win Or Lose Was Set To Tell A Trans Story That Could Have Changed Lives
Pixar’s Win or Lose is set to debut in February 2025 and will follow a middle school softball team called Pickles, and its many members from different backgrounds. Designed to represent a range of life experiences for people both young and old, each 20-minute episode follows not just an individual member of the team, but the people around them who help bring it to life and support it. From a foundational level, I can see how a show like this could easily facilitate a story about a transgender kid figuring out who they are. Once upon a time, it was going to do just that.
Earlier this week, The Hollywood Reporter reported that a transgender story and associated dialogue had been pulled from the series, with a Disney spokesperson telling the outlet that:
“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 scene in question, storyboards of which have since leaked online, follows a character as they are debating whether they should use the male or female restroom. After checking their appearance and anxiously struggling to make a choice, their friend approaches and takes them into the women’s bathroom. To them, this arbitrary decision isn’t a big deal, because in ideal circumstances it wouldn’t be. Trans people should be free to use the bathroom they require and not be viewed as some sort of boogeyman waiting to break the law. But this has become such a common point of discussion that it’s impossible to avoid.
Once inside the bathroom, the character stares at herself in the mirror with confidence in a brief moment of euphoria where she has stepped into a public place in which she belongs. But after helping a younger child turn on a tap to clean their hands, she is stared at like the aforementioned boogeyman. Somebody who should be ashamed for daring to intrude upon this space. After looking in the mirror, their reflection changes into an expressionist slate of different shapes and sizes, cracking to pieces as if to represent her crumbling confidence, and inability to ever see herself as whole. They rush out in a panic, unsure what to do, until their Dad rings their mobile phone and asks how they are. Even in animatic form, it’s such a powerful moment, and one of unfortunate normalcy in the lives of trans people everywhere.
But Now It Is Being Hidden For No Good Reason
After speaking with her father and sitting down with her coach to talk about everything she is going through, our unnamed character’s face begins to come back together, signifying once again that she feels safe in both her identity and surroundings. It’s a scene of dysphoria told through animation that has so much to say, and could have changed lives for young viewers who previously had no way to put this kind of experience into words. Now it’s been silenced.
I’ve been chased out of public bathrooms before during the early stages of my transition, either having to rush out to avoid confrontation or asking friends for help. I did nothing wrong, but it unfortunately reinforces the fact that we live in a world where trans people are still viewed as outsiders.
When stories like this are taken away out of political fear, it makes it harder and harder for young people to find solace in who they are and what they are going through. Disney’s hollow statement that parents would rather have these conversations with their children at the right time or place is cowardice, making a lot of dangerous assumptions that all LGBTQ+ children will be in an environment where it is even safe to do so.
I grew up in a world where queer representation was often expressed through subtext and stereotypes, but as an adult, watching things improve warms my heart. I hate to see how things are starting to regress in the current political climate, but progress continues nonetheless.
Representation like this is so important because it can be a voice for the voiceless. A light in the distance that a random kid might stumble upon one random evening and suddenly watch as the dots connect for the first time ever. A moment of recognition, or a reminder that they’re not alone and stories are being told about them on some of the biggest stages in the world. But when a corporation is willing to hide those stories away in fear of retaliation, it marks a bitter point of no return, and the more it happens, the more we have cause to worry.
Transgender actor Chanel Stewart, who plays the character in question, spoke to Deadline about being informed about the censorship of their role, and how they will now be presented as a cisgender teenager with no queer affiliation. The casting call initially asked for someone who could embody an authentic transgender experience, showing us that the plan was to tell this story the entire time. But the current climate has Disney running scared, and people like Stewart, and the young people she speaks for, are going to suffer.
Stewart’s character is still part of the show, but what she stood for, and the role she was asked to play alongside the story Win or Lose intended to tell, has been set aside by a corporation more eager to protect its capitalist interests than represent the audiences it claims to stand up for. This isn’t the first time a queer story has been censored by someone like Disney, and looking at the current landscape, it unfortunately won’t be the last.