This is the Daily Article podcast, published by the Denison Forum for Culture-Changing Christians.

To receive the Daily article directly to your email inbox each weekday morning, visit thedailyarticle.com.

Now here's today's news, discerned differently.

Pixar Animation Studios has become perhaps the most preeminent name in children's entertainment.

They have been a mainstay at the Oscars for more than two decades, and this year, developed

two of the five movies nominated for Best Animated Feature Film.

Seoul took home the award, becoming the 11th such Pixar property to do so.

The success of their recent offerings is not the only reason they are in the news today, however.

Last week, word began to circulate that they were looking to cast someone to voice the character

Jess in an upcoming project. Jess is described as someone who is compassionate,

funny, and always has your back. They are looking for a 12 to 17-year-old who is enthusiastic,

outgoing, funny, and energetic, who also feels comfortable acting in front of a microphone,

and can authentically portray a 14-year-old transgender girl.

If that last part caught you by surprise, that's kind of the point. As of this writing,

we don't know much about the character's role, the size of the part, or even if the project

will be a feature-length or short film. But when it airs, Jess will become the first openly transgender character in a Pixar project.

And while the company started heading this direction, by including the first openly homosexual

character in Onward last year, a Cyclops cop named Officer Spector, it's still a big step that caught many by surprise.

So how should we respond to this news? To answer that question well, requires looking at the issue

on a couple of different levels. To start, it's important to acknowledge what we don't know.

As referenced above, Pixar is not given details in the size and prominence of the transgender

character's role, but history would seem to indicate it will be minor.

...