Why does it seem like only conservatives are willing to draw the line when it comes to children’s entertainment?
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Elon Musk is on the warpath again. This time, he’s campaigning against Netflix over transgender-related content in children’s programs streaming on its platform.
On Oct. 2, the Tesla CEO posted that he had canceled his Netflix account. He’s also been urging others to boycott it. So far, Musk’s targeted ire has caused Netflix’s stock price to drop more than 2%.
As a mom of four, I don’t blame him. I’m sick of seeing platforms with massive influence − Netflix boasted nearly 300 million users worldwide in 2024 − hosting content aimed at children with blatantly gender-related or sexual themes. It’s unnecessary and inappropriate.
Netflix hosts inappropriate content aimed at kids
Conservatives and Musk began calling for a boycott after learning that a show on Netflix, “Dead End: Paranormal Park,” an animated fantasy series based on a graphic novel, features a transgender character. Variety reported that the Netflix original streamed for 20 episodes across two seasons in 2022 and was not renewed for a third season, but it’s still on Netflix. Netflix has the show rated TV-Y7, indicating it is suitable for children ages seven and older.
“Transformers: Earthspark,” a children’s show on Netflix, sparked backlash in 2023 after featuring its first nonbinary character.
The strangest part about these shows is that they are made to entertain children, but this isn’t typical children’s content. It is actually quite rare for young children to question their gender identity or sexual orientation, especially prior to puberty.
A 2023 study on the topic of transgender children and young people concluded that gender dysphoria is relatively rare among young children and that “many children who show gender dysphoria before puberty do not continue to do so during and after pubertal changes occur.”
I have spent the past 18 years raising kids. I’d challenge any parent to observe how often gender, sexual orientation or even sex comes up with their young children naturally. However, if these topics are featured in shows aimed directly at younger kids, they may be exposed to content that is too mature for them.
While creators of shows like this may feature transgender or nonbinary characters to show their young audiences the importance of inclusivity and acceptance, the introduction of content like this at such a young age might wind up being more confusing to kids who are not thinking about these things yet at all. Sex, sexuality and gender are topics better left for parents to handle.
Why can’t we just let kids be kids?
So far, the show that has caused Musk to advocate for a Netflix boycott seems to be drawing ire from conservatives. I find this perplexing.
Conservatives and liberals disagree on policies related to issues like bathroom use for transgender kids in schools or whether transgender athletes should be allowed to play on girls’ sports teams. But why does it seem like only conservatives are willing to draw the line when it comes to children’s entertainment addressing topics like gender identity or sexual orientation, whether gay or straight?
In just a few years, Americans will look back on this period of time ‒ when the entertainment industry, education leaders and government officials supported both the medical and social transitions of minors ‒ with shock and perhaps even disdain. Encouraging a child to embrace a gender identity opposite to their biological sex encourages a child to reject truth, reality and science. Policies about this often erode or erase female spaces and privacy altogether.
We are already beginning to see this shift now. A 2025 Pew Research Center poll found that 66% of Americans favor policies that require trans athletes to compete on teams that match their sex assigned at birth.
It is healthy for a society to encourage children to think critically and seek objective truth. It’s a parent’s job to ensure the entertainment they consume is suitable for their children. But Netflix should be more careful about the programs it markets to children – or its executives might find themselves on the losing end of a targeted campaign driven by the world’s richest man on a mission.
Nicole Russell is a columnist at USA TODAY and a mother of four who lives in Texas. Contact her at nrussell@gannett.com and follow her on X, formerly Twitter: @russell_nm. Sign up for her weekly newsletter, The Right Track, here.