According to an article yesterday published by The Hollywood Reporter, Disney has removed a plot line from one of its kid-targeted streaming series, which had centered on a character described as transgender:
Pixar’s original animated series Win or Lose will no longer include a transgender storyline in a later episode, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
The series follows a co-ed middle school softball team named the Pickles in the week leading up to their championship game. Each of the eight episodes center on the off-the-field life of a character and their point of view, whether it be a player, a parent, a coach or an umpire.
A spokesperson for Disney confirmed that the story arc was removed and provided the following statement to THR: “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 character remains in the show, but a few lines of dialogue that referenced gender identity are being removed. A source close to Win or Lose said the studio made the decision to alter course several months ago.
“Several months ago” coincides with the presentation of NLPC’s shareholder proposal at Disney’s annual meeting. As we explained at the time, the proposal — titled “Gender-Based Compensation Gaps and Associated Risks” — would have required the company to investigate its employee pay and benefits policies to determine how and where they are discriminatory — primarily against de-transitioners, who are individuals that attempt to switch from the sex they were born with, and then desire to return to their original bodily conditions. Most who have undergone chemical, medical or surgical treatments to alter their bodies, cannot then find care or insurance coverage to try to switch back.
The proposal served as a mechanism to criticize Disney for its unrelenting and inappropriate targeting of children with sexualized, adult-oriented themes via its theatrical and television productions.
At the annual meeting in April, detransitioner Chloe Cole presented NLPC’s proposal, with the company’s entire board of directors and CEO Robert Iger listening. You can watch Chloe’s presentation here:
Just got off the phone from the @Disney annual shareholders meeting.
I needed to call out Bob Iger and the rest of the board’s hypocrisy and the dangerous lies they feed to us through the media.
Here is what I said: pic.twitter.com/OxQOgPNvoi
— Chloe Cole ⭐️ (@ChoooCole) April 3, 2024
You can also read a transcript of Chloe’s remarks, and find links to other ancillary materials associated with NLPC’s Disney proposal, here.
The company apparently has gotten the message, after suffering a lengthy string of box office flop kids’ films with gay characters and relationships including “Lightyear” and “Strange World,” in addition to those with more general “woke” themes like the latest “Indiana Jones” sequel and “The Marvels.”
“Inside Out 2” and “Moana 2” are two features released this year that performed extremely well at theaters, and are reportedly politics-free and social justice-free. As shareholders, we approve of such messages: entertain without lecturing.
And we are glad that, as the Disney spokesperson explained, that the company finally “recognize[s] that many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline.” We hope it stays that way.
We haven’t forgotten, however, Disney’s policies for health coverage of child dependents of employees, which still provide for “gender transition” treatments and surgeries. As Chloe Cole warned, the company is extremely susceptible to litigation because of those policies, especially in light of the United Kingdom’s ban on puberty blockers for minors, with prohibitions in several states in the U.S. under consideration at the Supreme Court.
