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Disney Slammed For Adding Christian Character To Show After Cutting Trans Storyline
Pixar's first original long-form animated series follows a co-ed middle school softball team called the Pickles on their leadup to their big championship game. Each episode features a different character showing their perspective of the same events depicted in their respective visual styles.
Despite purporting to have inclusivity as a core value of the company, Disney joined several major companies to scale back on previously instituted DEI policies to comply with Trump's executive order to dispense with "woke" anti-discriminatory programs.
Trans actor Chanel Stewart said she was "very disheartened" to learn that Disney has decided to make her trans teen character in Win or Lose cisgender, essentially cutting the trans identity storyline altogether.
A Disney spokesperson issued a statement to Deadline and The Hollywood Reporter explaining:
“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."
Apparently, religion was the exception to the "certain subjects" justification.
According to LGBTQ Nation, the new series' first episode introduces a Christian character named Laurie, who's struggling with self-confidence and prays to the “heavenly father.”
The character adds:
“I have faith, but sometimes the doubt creeps in. … I just want to catch a ball or get a hit — for my team, of course.”
There was much opposition online.
@blippy.bsky.social
Sarcasm followed.
@b*tchspray.bsky.social
Users on the popculturechat subReddit expressed disappointment.
Reddit
Reddit
reddit
Reddit
The last time a Christian reference was made in a Disney film was nearly 20 years ago in the live-action film Bridge to Terabithia in 2007. Scenes from the movie featured children going to Sunday service and engaging in discussions about Jesus and the Bible.
Win or Lose isn't the first Disney series to axe a trans storyline.
In November, Disney allegedly scrubbed a trans plot from an episode of Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur in which a coach bans a trans athlete from a girls' volleyball team.
An unofficial YouTube post of the episode shows her teammates rallying around to support the trans character, a refreshingly heartwarming moment that came at a time when transgender youth are under attack by conservatives across the country.
Christian conservatives have long targeted Disney for its inclusionary efforts in representing LGBTQ+ characters in animated film.
In 2022, Disney's 61st animated film Strange World was banned by right-wingers for normalizing gay flirtation with a main teenage character.
That same year, Pixar's Toy Storyspinoff Lightyear faced protests for having a blink-and-you'll-miss-it same-sex kiss. It resulted in conservative backlash, with parents accusing Disney of trying to indoctrinate their children with a so-called "gay agenda."
Win or Lose was created, written, and directed by Pixar veterans Carrie Hobson and Michael Yates, who also served as executive producers with David Lally, Pete Docter, Andrew Stanton, and Lindsey Collins.
The series premiered on Disney+ on February 19.
Most Read
People Debate Which Professions Will Die Out Within A Decade
Redditor Toomad316 wanted to discuss the jobs that are becoming obsolete, so they asked:
"Which profession is going to get wiped out in the next 5-10 years?"
Everybody...
"By the looks of it, being a federal employee."
- Ok_Stop7366
"Them, and us who rely on federal funding for our jobs. I'm a research administrator at a university, and let's just say that things aren't looking too hot right now."
- momasana
Episode 12 GIF by FriendsGiphy
AI
"12 years ago, I got a job as a computer operator (basically, spending all day entering commands into a green screen from a checklist), and I thought back then that the job would be automated by AI within years. Today, I'm still in the industry (promoted now, though) and I know there's a guy in my company doing exactly the job I did years ago."
"The moral of the story is there's a lot of jobs out there that could be replaced by AI, but most companies aren't willing to put in that investment unless it becomes super, super cheap to do so."
- tocsin1990
The Editor
"I used to do court transcription (not stenography). Basically, I download an audio file and type what's spoken in the courtroom verbatim (within style rules). The industry has been trying to implement speech-to-text software for years but it's been too crap up until very recently. I've since upskilled to an 'editor' where instead of typing manually I correct the generated transcript."
"It still struggles with speaker differentiation and formatting but it's improved so drastically within the last 3 years it's only a matter of time until traditional transcriptionists are no longer necessary."
- Palebisi
Truthseekers
"Journalist apparently."
- wildmewtwo
"I’m part of a locally owned newspaper in South Central Kansas. We knew the only way for this to work was to make it a hyper-local county paper. We have a strong newsroom and have made a positive impact in our local communities. You’d be amazed at some of the good ol’ boy s**t that goes on in smaller communities. We also had to be super-engaged in our communities as well. Hosting concerts and events as well as creating our own local group, much like a chamber of commerce."
"We also have a crazy YouTube channel, much like the old public access TV shows. With all that said, there is no way in hell I would ever be part of a large newspaper chain. They’re often owned by hedge funds and picked to the bare bones giving the world the sh*ttiest journalism known to mankind. Makes me sick. Please, support your local papers and tell the big boys to suck it."
- BeerGent1967
Briefs
"Paralegals. It’s scary but the legal world is embracing AI. Everyone heard about those lawyers who used ChatGPT and it cited case law that didn’t exist, but no one’s talking about how LexisNexis developed their own AI that won’t do that."
"If an AI can summarize case law, write a brief, generate court documents- what does the paralegal do?"
"The only saving grace is that there are plenty of old lawyers out there who don’t even know how to e-file documents, so that may delay it a bit."
- Visual_Refuse_6547
Cut in Half
"Any sort of translation work."
- sharkmouthgr
"My wife is a translator, and this is something she is really concerned about. Her projects were cut in half this year compared to 2024."
- jak_hungerford
Translation GIF by TolgeeGiphy
Driverless
"About 10 years ago there were similar questions being asked, and a common answer was truck driving. People thought that driverless trucking was going to happen soon. I put a significant chunk of my investment money into places working towards this tech."
"Thankfully Volvo stock has done okay since then, but most others I’ve long since bailed on. It feels like we are no nearer to the driverless trucking tech taking over than we were back then."
"So whatever the popular answer here is, I won’t believe it, and I won’t be making stock picks based on it."
- eingram
Local
"I do digital marketing for small local businesses."
"We do their social media, websites, google ads, newsletters, blogs, etc. with the way AI is advancing, I really worry that people won’t need someone to market for them anymore."
"Like that’s still way down the line, but I’m in my 20s. What is this industry going to look like when I’m 50?"
"It’s already really hard to find a job."
- littlemybb
The Helpers
"I would have to say traditional local in person bank tellers and walk in banks. I'm already seeing these new type of banks showing up. They look like gas stations without the stores and the gas pumps are video ATMs. To do your banking, you drive up to the ATM, request what service you want and if that service requires a teller, you'll be connected to a call center teller (quite possibly an overseas one or AI)."
"If you need to cash a check or deposit money , you just enter them into the ATM. The downside to these is the massive loss of local teller job. You'll no longer have someone from your community to help you with your banking needs."
- Spastic_pinkie
Say Yes to the Dress
"Bridal and formal wear stores/stylists. We’re already seeing stores close now at rapid rates. People are buying their wedding dresses and prom/homecoming dresses from SHEIN, Amazon and other cheaper online retailers like Azazie. Brides still try and book appointments and tell us, oh I have a dress, I just didn’t get the 'Say Yes to the Dress' experience, so I want to come in and try stuff on. We can’t compete with a $50 dress, and brides are caring less and less about quality, because 'I’m only wearing it for a few hours.'"
"Some bridal shop owners think they can ban together and write their congressional leaders and senators and stop people from buying online, and I said you really can’t. There’s really no way to take back the industry. We are in the age of fast fashion, and cheap prices. Gone are the days of spending $1500 on a wedding dress, shopping with your mom, and waiting 6-9 months for it to come in. It’s not about educating them, and teaching them about quality. It’s a different generation, and we either get with the times or we get out."
- MacisBeerGutBabyBump
Twitter Issues
"My friend is an artist. She made a living off commissions on Twitter. That site going to crap and the rise of AI has already caused her to lose 80-90% of the commissions she was getting a few years ago. She’s currently working a minimum wager to keep what she can in her account while she figures out what to do."
- Beautiful-Aerie7576
On the Horizon
"Customer service + call centers are gonna see a lot of trouble with Agentic AI on the horizon. Not good because that industry employs millions of people across the world."
- InevitableOne8421
Season 5 Comfort GIF by NBCGiphy
Crisis
"As a therapist, hopefully not. AI seems to tell people what they want to hear rather than effectively challenging people, being able to help reframe things, or understanding different therapy modalities, never mind it couldn’t manage a crisis. I don’t think it could ever properly diagnose clients."
- Hyltrbbygrl
Feed the Text
"Audiobook Narrators. I am related to one and know several others. Apparently, they've combined existing voices to make different types of AI voice. Feed the text of a book into the AI, wait a bit, and you have an audiobook. It has already caused a significant reduction in the amount of available work."
- soconn
Through Online
"I recently was hired as a bank teller, but definitely that. The vast majority of the transactions that I process can already be done through online banking, the mobile app, or an ATM. We mainly serve customers that aren’t technologically inclined, and that customer demographic gets smaller and smaller every day."
- kai2124
Downsized
"I strongly believe radiology will be HEAVILY downsized in the next 5-10 years with the improvements in AI. So in my opinion, any premeds should keep this in mind when thinking about specialties."
- JizzleOfficial
Artificial Intelligence Ai GIF by Emil LindénGiphy
The Terminator movies warned us.
But humans never listen.
So many of these jobs need a human person doing it.
Do you have any jobs to add to this list?
Americans Describe The Creepiest Town They Ever Visited On A Road Trip
The woods are dense, and the communities are insular. Cloudy, moonless nights are very, very dark, and ghost stories abound.
And there's a reason we small-town folks call ourselves "Maineiacs" instead of "Mainers" like the transplants and city dwellers do.
But Interstate 95 ends before reaching the northern part of Maine. So we're not exactly a road trip destination.
Luckily, the United States is full of spooky little nooks and crannies along its highways and byways to lure travelers in.
Reddit user Bennevada asked:
"Americans who go on road trips, what little town gave you the most creeps like some Children of the Corn or crazy cult?"
Kentucky
"Stopped at the only restaurant in some small town in northeast Kentucky. There were two women inside and a family in a corner table."
"When we walked in, it was like they all had never seen people before. They just stared at us.
"The waitress paused a beat after we asked for a table, then they told us they didn’t take money!"
~ Idontknowthosewords
Michigan
"Me and my buddy both got a Friday off work and brought my new boat and motor out to a mid size lake in Michigan I found, because I read there were pike in there. It’s about a 45 minute drive from my house, no biggie."
"We head that way and about 10 minutes away from the lake, the GPS cuts out, but, oh well, you can see the open sky and parts of the lake from the dirt road we’re on, so I’ll just drive around until I find a boat launch or sign and go from there."
"We start seeing signs, they’re all in German, or maybe Dutch. I didn’t stop to read them or anything, but as we drive, we saw a group of kids walking down the side of the road—and not a small group, maybe 40 teenagers—all walking single file.
"'Must be some kind of summer camp near by' I said. It was a very hot September."
"As we keep driving, we keep seeing more groups that size, but varying in age. We saw another group of teens, one group of middle-age adults, and a slightly smaller group of people I would guess were in there 50s."
"All walking single file, not chatting, not holding anything in their hands, just walking, single file, down a muggy dirt road in the middle of nowhere Michigan."
"Me and my buddy start looking at each other like 'dude, does this seem strange to you?'. We saw a few small houses here and there, but nothing close to what what could have supported this many people."
"We tried to backtrack our way there when we went to leave the lake to try and find the signs and figure out what they said, but could not for the life of us find our way back through that area."
"Didn’t catch many fish by the way. It was a really warm fall that year."
~ riverratroberto
Ohio
"Red Haw, Ohio. I've driven through it four times.
"Every single time it's the same story. Cars parked on the sides of the road, but no traffic. Building doors wide open, but nobody visible."
"No music, no people."
"Legitimately saw a ball roll across the street once and nobody could have thrown it."
"It looks like everyone who lives there disappears whenever I drive through and then spontaneously they reappear when I leave."
~ GNSasakiHaise
Missouri
"I pulled into a bar in a tiny town in southeastern Missouri, the town was miles from any major highway. The bar was located in a former service station. There was only one other car in the parking lot, presumably the bartender."
"I stepped inside and there were two older men, one dressed in fishing gear, sitting at a table shelling peanuts. They both stopped and stared at me, and after an uncomfortably long pause, one of them asked if I needed something. 'Uh, I was hoping for a beer?' I answered. One of them got up and got me a can of Miller Light from the fridge."
"I would have sat at the bar, but the counter has a lot of boxes and clutter—along with an enormous plastic jar of some sort of dried mystery snack—and it just kind of seemed like they didn't want people sitting there."
"One table had hornets nests on it. The other table, where the two men were sitting, was covered in peanut shells, fly swatters, squirt guns, and also a sledgehammer."
"I sat at the table with the hornet nests, but then the two men told me to come sit with them so that I wouldn't have to drink alone."
"I asked about the hornet nests, and the guy in the fishing gear (same one who got me a beer) told me about how there's a short window of time you can collect them between when the hornets leave and when birds destroy them to eat the abandoned larva."
"He mentioned that one time he cut one too soon and before long the bar was swarming with hornets and it took a few days to get rid of them all. He then shook one of the nests over the table to show me all the larva that fell out of it onto the table."
"They turned out to be really nice guys, and I actually had a good time visiting with them. But everything about the place was just weird."
"On the opposite side of the pool table an entire wall and a good portion of the floor was covered with a pile of assorted children's toys. The men's bathroom set the all-time record for the dirtiest I have ever been in—it seemed to be rarely used and never cleaned."
~ scdog
Texas
"We detoured through Vidor, Texas due to a road closure. The residents hung white sheets saying ‘don’t stop’ and ‘go that way’."
"They seem to have lots of white sheets."
~ whatyoucallmetoday
"I did some engineering co-op assignments in the Golden Triangle area (Beaumont, Orange, Port Arthur) back in the early 90s. Everyone I worked with warned me to never stop in Vidor for any reason."
"I took their advice to heart. They said the town's claim to fame was being the former national headquarters for the Ku Klux Klan.
"Your experience with the white sheets sounds extremely believable to me."
~ underpants-gnome
"As a lifelong Texan and former resident of the greater Houston area, I can highly recommend never going near Vidor."
~ Outrageous_Picture39
Alabama
"The wife (American) and I (Brit) were driving through rural Alabama, where churches seem to outnumber homes, and most of those homes are trailers."
"We decided to stop for lunch at a diner in a small community. There were quite a few cars parked outside, including 2 police cruisers, so we figured it must be pretty popular."
"We walked in, and it was like a scene from a movie where everybody stops and turns to look at you, forks halfway to mouths, words half spoken etc... It went totally silent, and never in my life have I felt so spooked, so unsettled, and the wife felt the same.
"We turned round, got back in our car and left as fast as possible."
~ Another_Random_Chap
Georgia
"Not a town, but there is a little back road in Georgia named 'Trail of Tears Road'. My wife and I drove on it, and it was a beautiful, sunny day when we made the turn."
"As soon as we were on the road, it started raining, and the weather got worse and worse until it was like driving in a hurricane. Then, as soon as we got to the end of the road and turned onto the highway, the skies cleared up and it was a beautiful sunny day again."
"Super weird experience, and now years later, when strange things happen in the world, we joke with each other that it’s all a dream and we’re still trapped on Trail of Tears Road."
~ brickhamilton
"The Trail of Tears in Georgia was the forced removal of the Ani-Yunwiya (Cherokee) people from their homes in 1838 in violation of treaties signed before Congress passed the Indian Removal Act in 1830."
"They were forcibly marched west to Indian Territory—present day Oklahoma. The journey was over a thousand miles long and took several months."
"An estimated 4,000 Ani-Yunwiya died during the death march."
"So, yeah, major bad mojo."
~ MohawMais
New Jersey
"Vineland, New Jersey. Utopian sober town known as home of Welch’s Grape Juice."
"It's New Jersey's largest city by area, but has only 60,000 people."
"Strange 'planned' city with huge spaces between buildings, ridiculously wide streets, everything out of normal proportion."
~ tpatmaho
Appalachia
"Years ago, my husband was driving through Appalachia by himself."
"He suddenly found himself driving through a small town that seemed to be completely abandoned."
"Except that there were life-sized mannequins posed all over doing everyday 'tasks'. Walking dogs, fixing roofs, sitting at picnic tables."
"It was a tiny village in the middle of the mountains. He said he drove through as quickly as possible."
~ zucchiniqueen1
California
"The area around the Salton Sea in southern California. In particular I'm thinking of the upper half of the western shore, towns like Salton City, Desert Shores, and Oasis."
"Back in the 1960s, a bunch of resort towns popped up along the sea. In the 1980s, agricultural runoff severely polluted the sea. There were also wild variations in the salinity of the sea, and those two factors combined to kill off a ton of the sea's fish."
"The dead fish washed up on shore, the sight and smell of which pretty well killed the tourism industry. What remains is an ecological disaster and a bunch of not quite ghost towns."
"It's a really eerie corner of the world, and as someone who's spent a lot of time in tiny back towns across the western states, the Salton Sea area is definitely unique in my memory."
~ MasteringTheFlames
Idaho
"Arco, Idaho. First town in the world to be fueled by nuclear power. They had an incident there in 1961."
"Stopped for gas on the way to Craters of the Moon National Monument. Dust balls rolling across the streets. Desolate at the time."
"Little kid no more than 10 years old sitting on the floor in the gas station looking at nudie magazines. Kid was the clerk’s son."
"I jokingly told my buddy to get back in the car and lock the doors. We were fully excepting to see people with three arms."
"If you’re from Arco, I’m certain it’s a nice place. This was the late 90’s, and it was a boring weekday afternoon, so please don’t be offended. Town was just really eerie."
~ FiddliskBarnst
Wyoming
"La Grange, Wyoming. Local religious school controls/owns most of the land and jobs."
"Very cultish, get in line or get out type of vibe."
~ Overall_Low_9448
New York
"One time my partner and I were driving through the absolute middle of nowhere in upstate New York. It’s getting dark. There’s snow on the ground. It’s creepy enough."
Then, a deer slowly walked in front of our car. I slow down and stop. It stops. It turns its head fully to look at us."
"The entire other half of its face was shredded. Just strips of raw red flesh hanging off."
"The scream we scrumpt."
~ Copterwaffle
West Virginia
"We were on a road trip to visit family in another state, and decided to take 'the long way' to avoid turnpike fares, and so we would have more opportunities to stop to feed our young baby. Besides, you usually end up seeing some nice scenery and find nice little towns along the way when you get off the turnpikes and take the back roads, right?"
"Along the way, we needed to stop to feed the baby, and we saw a campground sign, so we thought that would be kind of a neat place to stop, since the sign said it had cabins, a lake, a playground..."
"We had our other young children with us, so this was a good place to take a break, have lunch, stretch our legs and let the kids get out and run off some energy."
"We figured we might have to pay a small entrance fee to get in, but to our surprise, the campground owners allowed us to use the facilities and playground at no charge, and we thought ourselves fortunate to have come across such nice people—such a 'happy accident'."
"You're right to hear ominous music in your head at this point..."
"We parked by the playground, took out our food, set ourselves up at a picnic table, had our lunch and fed the baby, and after we ate, the two older kids played on the playground equipment with the campground owners' grandkids."
"The campground owners (a husband and wife, both older, maybe in their 70s) stayed around and chatted with us, which we felt was nice, because they were telling us about the area, and the campground, and they seemed like very nice people."
"I watched the kids playing, and just kind of half-listened to their conversation—which went something like this:"
"My kids: 'We're on a trip!'."
Their grandkids: 'You're not leaving from here'."
My kids (puzzled looks): 'Yes we are. We're just going to play for a while, and then we're going. My mom said so'."
Their grandkids: 'No. My grandma said you're staying. Like the last people that came here'."
"Now I'm curious...I'm sure they're just talking about people that come to camp here, right?"
My kids: 'No, we have to go. We're going to a hotel tonight with a pool—it has a slide!'."
"Their grandkids: 'NO, YOU'RE NOT. PEOPLE ALWAYS STAY. WE MAKE THEM'."
"Um...what‽‽"
"At this point, the owners' grandkids' voices are loud and insistent, and I'm getting concerned because this is just getting weird. I tell my kids to come to the table to get cleaned up so we can leave because something just feels 'off'—which they seem really happy to do because they're getting freaked out, too."
"The campground owners seem to notice their grandkids have said something that triggered us, and suddenly shift the conversation and start talking about how they have a church at the campground, and everyone enjoys their services so much, and we should stay—why, there's a service that night, as a matter of fact, and they'd love to have us stay for it."
"They'd put us up in one of their cabins, give us dinner and provide bedding, etc... We said we appreciated the offer, but no thanks, we had to be going."
"They started insisting we stay—like, REALLY strongly insisting, almost beyond the point of politeness—almost to the point of bullying."
"Just very pushy—saying how it would be a shame if we drove when we were tired and got into an accident and something happened to the children—how we should really think of the children and their future and not put them in danger like that."
"I've never had anyone say anything like that to me before—or since."
"I can't tell you how fast we packed up our things and left. To this day, I can't tell you exactly where it was, other than it was somewhere in West Virginia."
"I don't remember what area or town it was near, but I've never tried to avoid the turnpike again. I'll gladly pay the turnpike fares anytime now."
"Maybe I was just overthinking it and they were just being very concerned about it, but when I think back on it, I still think they were just very, very weird people, and I'm glad we got out of there when we did."
"To be honest, I think they were just super-religious and pushy about it, but it creeped me out."
~ supvsvcmi2
What's the spookiest spot you've visited in the United States?