Since American conservatives aren’t too worried about the Supreme Court’s disbelief in global warming or dismantling of abortion rights, they have to find some nit-pickier topics to get their panties in a wad — like a man shopping for menstrual products in a children’s television show. This week, infamous right-wing writer Christopher T. Rufo — aka the guy who drummed up last year’s partisan uproar over critical race theory. — tweeted his outrage over Disney+’s Baymax! for one very brief inclusion of an openly transgender background character, sending much of conservative Twitter into a pathetic tizzy.
Baymax!, a spinoff of the film Big Hero 6, is a six-part series in which the titular “personal healthcare companion” extends his helpful deeds to the youths of San Fransokyo. In one episode, a girl named Sofia heads into her school’s gender-neutral restroom to discover she’s living every 12-year-old’s worst nightmare: Getting her first period right before her performance at the talent show.
As the pad and tampon dispenser in the school bathroom is fresh out, Baymax swoops in to make an emergency trip to the supermarket — only, he’s merely an inflatable robot, and has no idea what any of these mysterious cotton products entail. Various other customers — a woman by herself, a dad shopping for his daughter — offer Baymax their recommendations. One such customer is a man wearing a t-shirt with the transgender flag, who has a single line: “I always get the ones with wings,” he says, adding a box to Baymax’s growing pile of sanitary options. End scene.
“[Baymax!] promotes the transgender flag and the idea that men can have periods to children as young as two years old,” Rufo wrote on Twitter along with the clip. “It’s all part of Disney’s plan to re-engineer the discourse around kids and sexuality.”
We’re not sure what exactly Baymax! says about sexuality, as sexuality and gender identity are two entirely different matters. But many were quick to throw all logic aside and hop on Rufo’s accusations towards Disney: On an episode of his show, Ben Shapiro slammed Disney’s “indoctrination” of children. Republican Texas state Rep. Bryan Slaton quote-tweeted the scene, calling it “sick and weird.”
“We have to protect kids from the sick adults who want to sexualize them and let them be kids,” Slaton added. Again — it’s just period products were talking about, here — so Slaton accusing Disney of sexualizing children is quite an unflattering jump to conclusions. Watch the Baymax! clip in question, and see Rufo and Slaton’s tweets, below.
This isn’t the first time Disney has gotten themselves into hot water with conservatives lately. An Oklahoma movie theater recently posted a warning about a same-sex kiss depicted in Lightyear, writing that they would fast-forward through the scene. (The warning was taken down a few days later.) That scene has been a point of controversy even before Lightyear‘s release, having been cut from the movie until Pixar staff publicly accused the company of censorship. Forget indoctrinating your kids — Disney’s probably trying still to do damage control following reports that the company donated to every sponsor of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
EXCLUSIVE: 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. pic.twitter.com/y1ATnKCEce
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) June 28, 2022
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. https://t.co/Fckhy813Xn
— Bryan Slaton (@BryanforHD2) June 29, 2022