Transgender Man Who Helps Robot Buy Tampons In New Disney Scene Angers Conservatives
Topics: Disney Plus, LGBTQ
Joe Harker
Featured Image Credit: Disney+
Topics: Disney Plus, LGBTQ
Disney's new cartoon about a robot going around helping people with their health and wellbeing is attracting anger from conservatives.
Baymax! is a spin-off starring the lovable inflatable medical robot from the 2014 animated film Big Hero 6, where a young inventor teams up with a superhero to avenge his older brother's death.
The soft-spoken robot quickly became a favourite among Disney fans for his friendly demeanour and potential for comedy.
Check out the trailer below:
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Big cuddly robots have great marketing potential, so it was no surprise that Disney eventually got around to giving Baymax his own show.
Unfortunately, according to Chron, some conservatives have thrown a hissy fit on the internet over the cartoon because there's a scene where a transgender man helps Baymax buy some tampons.
The premise of Baymax! is that the adorable robot goes around the fictional city of San Fransokyo – which we saw in Big Hero 6 – and helps people with their physical and emotional problems.
In one of the episodes there's a moment where a 12-year-old girl is about to go on stage to perform at her school talent show, only that moment she starts to have her first period and begins panicking.
Obviously it's then up to our friendly robot to save the day and buy her some tampons, but since he doesn't know which ones to get he starts asking other shoppers for help.
One of the people who gives Baymax advice is a transgender man who tells the robot 'I always get the ones with wings', and barely a few seconds of a children's cartoon is all it took to trigger a moan-fest online.
Somehow, a cartoon with a transgender character speaking on screen for a couple of seconds is 'all part of Disney's plan to re-engineer the discourse around kids and sexuality'.
At least, that's according to conservative writer Christopher Rufio, who slated Baymax! on social media and also claimed the show 'promotes the transgender flag'.
Rufio, a critic of what he describes as Disney's 'not-at-all-secret gay agenda', found plenty who agreed with his views.
Texas state Rep. Bryan Slaton (R-Mineola) also slammed the scene online, tweeting: "This is so sick and weird. We have to protect kids from the sick adults who want to sexualize them and let them be kids."
Fortunately, there were also many who pushed back against his views and praised Baymax as a good ally to the LGBTQ+ community.
Baymax! is available to stream on Disney+
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