After the recent rumors that Disney-Pixar’s Finding Dory might have a lesbian couple, Ellen DeGeneres, who voices the forgetful, blue fish Dory, revealed that while the film might not have a distinct lesbian character, it does have a confirmed transgender character.
In an interview with USA Today, DeGeneres spoke about the character, saying that it’s a “Sting-Ray that’s becoming Sting-Rhonda, so there’s a trans-sting in the movie.”
DeGeneres wasn’t sure if the rumored lesbian couple shown in the recent trailer were actually gay, but joked, “One woman has a very bad short haircut, which I find very offensive. If that’s the definition of a gay woman, then how dare you? Just because someone has a short, bad haircut doesn’t mean she’s gay. [She just has a] bad hairdresser. So I don’t know that that’s the case.”
Of course, DeGeneres is 100% for the idea of representing the LGBTQ community in Finding Dory. In a press conference, the daytime talk show host said, “I think everything that we see in the media – whether it’s television or film or anything you see – should represent everything that’s happening in the world. I think everybody that is in the world should be seen and represented.”
Finding Dory’s string ray will be the first openly transgender Disney-Pixar character. While Disney has never featured a transgender character before, there are rumors that Pleakley, an alien in the film Lilo And Stitch who identifies as a male but wears women’s clothing, is trans.
Finding Dory hits theaters on June 17.
