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The That’s So Raven reboot may have given Disney Channel its very first live action trans character!
“The Fierce Awakens,” the 15th episode of the fifth season of Raven’s Home, premiered on Friday, and episode writer Nori Reed posted to Instagram to commemorate the occasion, writing that she “may have created the first ever trans character for the Disney Channel.”
That character, Nikki, is an influencer who is played by trans actress Juliana Joel, who is also possibly the first out trans actress to play a role on a Disney Channel show. Both Joel and Reed wrote on Instagram that the episode was a dream come true, especially for people who could not have imagined seeing trans characters on children’s TV.
In an Instagram post, Joel shared her story of growing up as a kid in a “typical Puerto Rican family” in Florida, dreaming of being on the Disney Channel and specifically on her favorite show That's So Raven.