[Order Michael Finch’s new book, A Time to Stand: HERE. Prof. Jason Hill calls it “an aesthetic and political tour de force.”]
It is hardly a secret that Netflix, like most large media companies, tends toward a left-of-center perspective. But many parents were horrified to discover last week that the streaming behemoth is promoting transgender ideology and the radical idea that a person can be “born in the wrong body” to children as young as preschool age.
Libs of TikTok kicked off the furor by posting on X about a little-known show created and hosted by Netflix called Dead End Paranormal Park. The show, which currently boasts two seasons, is described as “Two teens and a talking pug team up to battle demons at a haunted theme park — and maybe even save the world from a supernatural apocalypse.” It is recommended for ages 7 and up.
What is left unsaid in this brief synopsis is that one of the teens—main character Barney—is openly trans and proudly declares so in the show. Barney is depicted as an overweight male-presenting teen with blue hair and earrings who teams up with pal Norma to defeat the paranormal baddies who have infested the park.
All of the usual leftist tropes are here. Norma finds out that Barney is illegally living at the theme park. “This is the first place I’ve every felt like I could just truly be myself,” he tells her.
“I’m trans Norma,” he explains. “And everyone at school knows, and everyone at home knows, and being here, it’s like a whole new place, I can just be Barney and I can choose if and when I tell people. I’ve never been happier, and that’s saying something when I spent today chased by terrifying zombie mascots.” Norma accepts this admission with zero hesitation or argument.
The show’s promotion of gender ideology is less surprising when you find out who is behind Paranormal Park.
“The creator of the show, Hamish Steele, is a he/they LGBTQ Bluesky fan who had a meltdown that people were mourning Charlie Kirk, and called Charlie a nazi,” Libs of TikTok revealed.
“This is not okay,” X owner Elon Musk posted in response.
Sadly, Paranormal Park turned out to be only the tip of the queer iceberg.
Libs of TikTok helped to unearth clips from roughly a dozen other Netflix shows, designed for children as young as toddlers, which also promote LGBTQ ideology.
Strawberry Shortcake: Berry in the Big City features a scene with a “trans fairy” who adorns himself in a dress with the baby pink, baby blue, and white colors of the transgender flag. Asked why “she” chose this “delicious dress,” the character replies, “as a trans fairy, I love living out loud as my most authentic self. And I wanted a dress as bold and unique as I am which, let’s face it, is a tall order.”
The wholesome 80’s book series, The Baby-Sitters Club, comes to life on Netflix with a few questionable modern additions. One scene depicts teen sitter MaryAnn advocating for the trans child Bailey who she has accompanied to the hospital. When hospital staff repeatedly refer to Bailey (a boy who identifies as a girl) as “he” and “little man,” MaryAnn puts them in their place.
“I know that you guys are busy, but as you would see, if you looked at her and not her chart, Bailey is not a boy,” she rants to the doctor and nurse on duty. “And by treating her like one you are completely ignoring who she is. You’re making her feel insignificant and humiliated and that’s not going to help her feel good or safe or calm. So, from here on out please recognize her for who she is. And, if at all possible, could you find me a not-blue hospital gown?”
Perennial toddler favorite, Cocomelon, contains an only slightly more subtle pro-trans message. One scene features a young boy dancing in a dress and tiara for his two gay dads. “If you’re not sure what to choose, think about all the things you like to do,” sings one of the dads as the boy looks from his various male costumes to his tiara, “Just be you!” “Just be me!” echoes the toddler.
Shows aimed primarily at school age boys aren’t safe from the trans grooming at Netflix either. “Allied with a family of humans, a new generation of Transformers searches for purpose while defending Earth from threatening evil forces,” Netflix describes the show Transformers Earthspark, which features a cast of robotic characters who can transform into vehicles and other mechanical forms. What is not included in this brief description is that Transformers have genders—and strong feelings about being misgendered.
“Nightshade’s pronouns are they/them,” explains one of the human allies on the show to a transformer. “He or she just doesn’t fit who I am,” the sleek silver robot Nightshade explains. “My apologies,” states the other robot, before seamlessly switching to the “correct” pronoun “they.”
The unrelenting message running through these children’s shows is that being trans and demanding the use of preferred pronouns is not only normal, but a praiseworthy act of self-actualization that only bigots and meanies would refuse to celebrate.
This view is both dangerous and unscientific. The far-left gender cabal has led a generation of children and teens to succumb to a dangerous social contagion where they believe themselves to be “born in the wrong body” because their interests don’t conform to strict societal gender roles or they are uncomfortable with the natural development of their bodies.
Instead of treating these children gently with talk therapy to affirm their birth sex and discuss their understandable anxieties surrounding puberty, the medical profession and Democrat party have been fully captured by radical gender activists who endorse chemical castration drugs, wrong sex hormones that result in sterilization, and the amputation of healthy body parts to “affirm” these children’s delusions.
These same radical transactivists—seeking to normalize their own often-deviant sexual behavior and self-understanding—are now attempting to groom toddlers and grade schoolers through supposedly innocuous children’s shows. And anyone who objects must be a bigot.
This time though, the right is fighting back. The exposure of pro-trans children’s content on Netflix led to a red wave of cancellations from horrified conservative parents and others. “Just days after CANCEL NETFLIX began to trend online, Netflix lost $15 BILLION in value,” Libs of TikTok exulted.
Once again, conservatives are sending a message that they will no longer tolerate far-left dogma and gender ideology being shoved down their throats—and especially those of their children.