In 2020, actress Chanel Stewart already had a few commercials under her belt, but was looking for new work. She came across a post where Pixar was looking for a 14-year-old transgender girls to provide the voice of a transgender teenager for one of their new series.

Stewart was eventually chosen for the role in Win or Lose.

“Oh my God, it was crazy,” the 18-year-old said said Deadline.

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

However, on Monday (December 16), she was informed that the storyline had changed. Disney released a statement He explains: “When it comes to animated content for younger audiences, we know that many parents would prefer to discuss certain topics with their children on their own terms and schedule.”

“I was very discouraged,” Stewart told the outlet. “From the moment I received the script, I was excited to share my journey to empower other trans youth. I knew this would be a very important conversation. Trans stories matter and deserve to be heard.”

According to Disney, Stewart is still involved in the win or lose. However, they removed several lines of dialogue from an episode that would relate to the character’s gender identity.

“It’s just that now my character would be a cis girl, a straight cis girl,” Stewart explained. “So yeah, that’s all they really told me and that I was still part of the show.”

Still, Stewart knows how important it is to be part of this moment.

“I’m definitely one of the first (transgender girls) to do this! It’s a true honor to be part of queer history.”

“Win or Lose,” about a co-ed middle school softball team preparing for an important championship game, is expected to premiere on Disney+ in February.