Transgender Actress Speaks Out After Disney Cuts Storyline

Back in 2020, actress Chanel Stewart already had a few commercials under her belt, but was looking for new work. She came across a post that Pixar was looking for a 14-year-old transgender girl to voice a transgender teenager for one of their new series.

Stewart was ultimately cast in the role on “Win or Lose.”

“Oh my God, it was crazy,” the 18-year-old told Deadline.

“I wore it like a badge. I wore it with pride. I wore it with honor because it meant so much to me. The idea of ​​authentically portraying a transgender teenage girl made me really happy. I wanted to make this for transgender kids like me .”

However, she was told on Monday (December 16) that story changed. Disney released a statement explains “when it comes to animated content for younger audiences, we recognize that many parents prefer to discuss certain topics with their children on their own terms and timeline.”

“I was very discouraged,” Stewart told the newspaper. “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 is still involved with “Win or Lose,” according to Disney. However, they got rid of several lines of dialogue from an episode that had to refer to the character’s gender identity.

“It’s just that my character now wanted to be a cis girl, a straight cis girl,” Stewart said. “So yeah, that’s all they really told me and that I was still part of the show.”

Still, Stewart knows how important it is to be a part of this moment.

“I’m definitely one of the first (transgender girls) to do this! It is a true honor to be a part of queer history.”

“Win or Lose,” which focuses on a middle school co-ed softball team preparing for an important championship game, premieres on Disney+ in February.