Petition to reinstate transgender storyline in Disney Pixar’s Win or Lose gets thousands of signatures

A petition started to encourage Disney Pixar to reintroduce a transgender storyline cut from its upcoming series Win or Lose has amassed thousands of signatures in just over a day.

Earlier this week, it was revealed that Pixar’s new animated series Win or Lose, which follows a school softball team as they prepare for a big game, was originally meant to include a transgender character.

The young student, to be voiced 18-year-old trans actress Chanel Stewart, was seemingly set to have scenes in which they struggled with gender dysphoria.

Yet in a statement, Disney confirmed that the storyline had been cut as “many parents would prefer to discuss certain subjects with their children on their own terms and timeline”.

The character will remain in the series, which is set for release on Disney+ in February 2025, but they will be portrayed as cisgender, without any mention of transgender identity.

Now, a petition set up by a Louisiana-based film fan entitled “Reinstate the Transgender Storyline in Pixar’s ‘Win or Lose’” has amassed almost 5,000 signatures since it was set up on Wednesday (18 December).

In removing the trans storyline, the petition creator stated that Disney was “spitting in the face of the value of LGBTQ+ representation in family media”.

“In the troubling, frightening times we live in, where LGBTQ+ individuals and communities continue to be threatened with persecution and denial of basic human rights, this continued suppression of authentic, meaningful queer storytelling simply cannot be accepted,” the petition continues.

It goes on to call on the entertainment conglomerate to reverse its “cowardly, spineless” decision to remove the plot.

“As a queer non-binary teenager, queer stories being told are of the utmost importance for me. Not only because I need to see myself and want to but to help destigmatize queerness,” wrote one of the petition’s signatories.

“I suffer a lot to homophobic and transphobic rhetoric and bullying within the classroom everyday but queer people showing up normally will help children when eventually encountering them in real life,” they added.

Another added: “LGBTQIA+ people should know they’re an important and welcome part of the community and not seen as somehow ‘inappropriate’ for children.”

Earlier this week Stewart, who voices the role, admitted to feeling “very disheartened” by Disney’s decision to cut her character’s storyline, particularly as she knew it could start “a very important conversation”.

“I wore it as a badge. I wore it with pride. I wore it with honour because it meant so much to me. The thought of authentically portraying a transgender teenage girl made me really happy. I wanted to make this for transgender kids like me,” she shared.

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