Lilo & Stitch

Like many Americans, I was raised on Disney Movies. And, like many people, I find myself noticing things as an adult that I never saw as a child. Although one thing that you really don't expect to notice in Disney is any LGBT reference. Sure- you get the occasional guy forced to wear dresses, dress like a woman, but this is usually accompanied by them bitching about it, or as a horrifically humiliating thing.



Lilo & Stitch, however, has Agent Wendy Pleakley. Wendy's name meaning "Brave Warrior" in his native tongue (his brother is jealous of his name). Alien-androgyny aside, it's generally acknowledged that Pleakley is a male. Which is why you'd probably be surprised to find out that the picture to the left isn't all that unusual.

For most of the movies and later series, Pleakley is in drag.This is probably as much because it's hard to find pants that fit 3 legs as that he likes it- but Jumba (another male alien, different species) and him seem to actually argue about why Pleakley gets to wear the outfits. In the movie, when Pleakley is trying on the wig, he ends up fighting Jumba for it- after which Jumba puts it on to admire himself in it. In one episode, where Pleakley is donned in the stereotypical maid outfit, Jumba demands to know why Pleakley gets to wear the comfortable skirts. The biggest deal I can recall anyone making out if it is when Lilo's love interest makes a comment about "Your aunt is a man" to which she replies "We're a special family".

In the series it mentions that he's a "babe magnet" on his home planet, probably to try and placate anyone who freaks out about having their kids exposed to, well, him. Whether Pleakley is a drag queen, guy who just gets really into character, bigender, trans woman, or what- it's actually pretty cool to have a character like this on Disney. Who knows, maybe someday we'll get to the point where Disney can have a human male crossdressing without it being a big (or bad) thing.