Despite getting everything they've ever wanted from the Supreme Court and more sweeping overturns of basic rights likely on the way, conservatives are still having meltdowns over the fact transgender people exist.
Their newest uproar comes after a Disney+ series depicted a trans man shopping for menstrual products.
The series Baymax! is a family-friendly Disney+ spinoff of the hit animated movie Big Hero 6, and its inclusivity towards LGBTQ+ characters has the conservatives and the Evangelical Christians all in a tizzy.
The furor erupted after far-right conservative writer Christopher Rufo threw a tantrum about a scene on the show in which the titular robot helps a character buy tampons and maxi pads. See the scene below.
\u201cI know it\u2019s got the haters frothing but I can\u2019t help feeling that a world where children learn about periods, including that trans men have periods, at an early age unproblematically is the kind of world I want to live in. \n\ud83d\udc9c #Baymax \nhttps://t.co/8lZPr9hlG9\u201d— Matthew Hodson (@Matthew Hodson) 1656585255
In the episode of Baymax! that set Rufo and the right off, Baymax assists a middle schooler named Sofia with purchasing supplies for her first period by asking customers in the menstrual products aisle for their recommendations, one of whom is a trans man.
Along with a clip of the show, Rufo tweeted:
"I've obtained leaked video from Disney's upcoming show "Baymax," which promotes the transgender flag and the idea that men can have periods to children as young as two years old."
"It's all part of Disney's plan to re-engineer the discourse around kids and sexuality."
Pretty sure Disney's only agenda here is to be inclusive while informing middle school-aged children about a normal, monthly bodily function, but go off Rufo!
Baymax! centers on the inflatable robot of the same name helping the citizens of the (obviously) fictional mash-up of San Francisco and Tokyo, San Fransokyo.
Comprised of 10-minute vignettes in which Baymax helps a person solve an often healthcare-related problem, each episode is a combination of Big Hero-style hijinx and a sweetly presented teachable moment.
The trans-centered moment in this particular scene is so brief that if you weren't looking for it--like, say, a far-right Christofascist transphobe might be--you might miss it entirely.
No such luck with Rufo, of course, who set off a torrent of transphobic hate from right-wing people on Twitter. And the more liberal-minded on the app couldn't help but roast the uproar.
\u201cyou have to work to find out what's upsetting about this video. i didn't even catch it at first.\u201d— hasanabi (@hasanabi) 1656530868
\u201cThere\u2019s a scene in PINOCCHIO where children are turned into donkeys and scream for their mothers as they\u2019re sent to work in salt mines and these people are freaking out about adults buying tampons lol\u201d— Dana Schwartz \ud83e\udec0 (@Dana Schwartz \ud83e\udec0) 1656578653
\u201cimagine thinking that a completely neutral representation of a trans man is some grand \u201cagenda\u201d. just sounds like equality to me.\u201d— anu (@anu) 1656541612
\u201cconservatives: \u201cwahhh periods in the baymax show will confuse kids\u201d\n\ni bet actual kids would just go \u201cbaymax is so nice to help the customers :)\u201d\u201d— Eli \u2600\ufe0f (@Eli \u2600\ufe0f) 1656507252
\u201cif kids can handle seeing tadashi getting killed in an explosion they can handle baymax learning about a simple bodily function and tampons lol\u201d— kev (@kev) 1656525022
\u201c*baymax voice* ALLYYY\u201d— riss \ud83c\udf3a (@riss \ud83c\udf3a) 1656532779
\u201cwait why is this upsetting?? didnt tadashi create baymax to be a healthcare robot? why are they mad over periods \ud83e\udd72\u201d— minx (@minx) 1656543145
\u201cIf you\u2019re having a little tantrum over a cartoon clip, you need better priorities \ud83d\udc80\u201d— \ud83d\udcabAstralWingz\ud83d\udcab (@\ud83d\udcabAstralWingz\ud83d\udcab) 1656557740
\u201cThe trans community is now ride or die for Baymax, our inflatable ally.\u201d— Jodie Troutman (@Jodie Troutman) 1656475983
Baymax! allows includes a vignette where the robot encourages two men to date each other, so we can probably expect another round of conservatives having a meltdown over LGBTQ people's existence being acknowledged by an inflatable robot soon. Great.
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