Baymax: Fans defend Disney film involving a trans masculine character

Disney fans have defended Baymax following conservative outrage over a scene where a trans masculine character is seen shopping in a tampon aisle.

The series, which is a spinoff based on the beloved inflatable robot hero from the 2014 animated film Big Hero 6, sees the robot turn into a “personal healthcare companion” who goes around San Fransokyo assisting those who need help.

In the third episode, a girl named Sofia heads into an all-gender restroom and is horrified to discover she’s begun her first period right before she’s set to perform at the school talent show.

“I wasn’t prepared for this!” Sofia shouts at Baymax. “And the dispenser’s empty! And I don’t even have a thing! A tampad. A pad-pon. A maxi-pad-pon with wings?”

To help out Sofia, Baymax then goes to a local supermarket to retrieve some period products.

Baymax seems to get confused with the large variety of options and asks others for recommendations.

A transgender man wearing a transgender flag shirt, tells Baymax: “I always get the ones with wings.”

Despite the trans character appearing only for a few seconds, writer Christopher F Rufo criticised the idea of men having periods on Twitter.

“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,” he wrote. “It’s all part of Disney’s plan to re-engineer the discourse around kids and sexuality.”

The tweet, which was posted on Wednesday (29 June), has since gone viral with over 40k likes with many conservative people commenting that the clip would make children “uncomfortable.”

However, Rufo and other conservative people’s opinion has been met with criticism, with Disney fans saying that they appreciate the representation in the series.

“This is amazing! It’s sooo cool to see a show talk openly about periods and how everyone is being so supportive about it! Baymax works in health and it’s good that he learns this! Seeing a Trans man being included is also amazing! This clip makes me happy!” one supportive fan wrote.

Another person added: “This shows really great representation on who has periods, including the trans man in the scene, and that it isn’t embarrassing or shameful to talk about with others.”

One person wrote: “The new Baymax show has an episode about periods and they have a trans man helping Baymax figure out what pads to get this is amazing.”