Disney has cut a transgender storyline from its upcoming animated series "Win or Lose," a decision that has left the 18-year-old transgender actor who voiced the highlighted character "very disheartened."
The new Disney-owned Pixar animated series, set to premiere on Disney+ Feb. 19, follows a coed middle school softball team called the Pickles as they prepare for their championship game, according to CNN. Each of the eight episodes will focus on a different member of the team.
However, a storyline involving gender identity has been removed from the series. According to a source familiar with the matter, the character will remain in the show, but the decision to exclude the plot point was made several months ago. The changes go beyond script adjustments, as the character's dialogue had already been recorded.
"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," Disney said in a statement.
Chanel Stewart, who voices the character, spoke out against the decision to Deadline.
"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," she said.
Disney had confirmed to Stewart that her character would remain in the series, but she "would now be a cis girl, a straight cis girl." She landed the role after responding to a 2020 social media post about Pixar searching for a transgender girl to voice a transgender teenager.
"The thought of authentically portraying a transgender teenage girl made me really happy," she told Deadline. "I wanted to make this for transgender kids like me."
Disney chief executive Bob Iger told CNBC earlier this year that the entertainment giant had no interest in sending messages through its shows and movies.
"The term woke is thrown around rather liberally," Iger said. "I think a lot of people don't even understand really what it means. The bottom line is that infusing messaging as a sort of a number one priority in our films and TV shows is not what we're up to. They need to be entertaining."