‘The Summer I Turn Pretty’ Fans Fire Back at “Transphobic” Viewers For “Unwarranted Hate” Toward Elsie Fisher: “It’s Just Gross”

As Taylor Swift — a proud provider of music for The Summer I Turned Pretty — would say: you need to calm down. Fans of the hit Prime Video series are calling out the “gross” comments aimed at the show’s nonbinary character Skye (Elsie Fisher), who uses they/them pronouns.

A month after Susannah’s (Rachel Blanchard) death, Season 2 picks up with Conrad (Christopher Briney), Jeremiah (Gavin Casalegno) and Belly  (Lola Tung) returning to the beach house in Cousins, where they hope to change their estranged Aunt Julia’s (Kyra Sedgwick) mind about selling the house. Coming along for the ride is Skye, their nonbinary cousin, who begins to bond with the rest of the gang.

Some viewers of the show have taken to social media to blast Fisher’s “cringey” character, who doesn’t necessarily fit the whole “American Eagle aesthetic” the show has going on. However, others were quick to call out the haters for their “transphobic” behavior.

“It’s so ironic to me because the whole premise of the show is a girl not feeling conventionally attractive for, like, how many summers? 16? And then she finally turns pretty. But y’all are coming for the one person that y’all don’t find attractive,” TikTok user @skyynico said while addressing the “unwarranted hate” aimed at Fisher.

She continued, “And I’m sorry that Skye, this new character who, might I remind you, is an actual person. They’re a real person beyond the character they play. They may not fit this whole American Eagle aesthetic that you have in your mind, but they’re just doing their job.”

A number of fans also fired back at the backlash aimed at Skye and Fisher on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“While I’m talking about being nonbinary here’s a friendly reminder that it is not okay to misgender a person/character just [because] you don’t like them,” one wrote. “So many people are doing it with Skye/Elsie Fisher from tsitp and it’s just gross.”

Another added, “Just [because you] dislike a character doesn’t give [you] an excuse to be transphobic. The way people [are] treating Skye [is] a clear reflection of how they act [in real life] and it’s disgusting.”

tsitp had a whole scene where skye said their pronouns as well as a scene where jeremiah corrected belly in a convo about their pronouns, meanwhile fans are completely ignoring it and calling them "she" or "it". you can dislike a character all you want but don't misgender them…

— colleen (@floatinoutside) July 22, 2023

um ok kinda sick of all the unnecessary hate / weird jokes everyone in the tsitp fandom is making about skye and elsie bc it’s feeling like transphobia at this point because they haven’t done anything..

— 🧷 ً (@iheartromcoms) July 21, 2023

Jenny Han, the show’s creator and the author of the book on which it is based, previously reminded the fanbase that The Summer I Turned Pretty community is “one of inclusivity” shortly after the Season 2 premiere.

“The whole Summer cast and crew have worked hard to make a show we hope you will love, and we are so excited to share it with you guys,” she wrote on her Instagram Story, per InTheKnow. “The Summer I Turned Pretty community is one of inclusivity. The hurtful comments directed at the cast are not in the spirit of the show. Please be mindful of what you’re putting out there and of who is seeing it.”

The Summer I Turned Pretty Season 2 is currently streaming on Prime Video.