The season includes the episode 'The Mint Gala,' where the character Banoffee (a trans woman referred to as a 'trans berry') wears a dress designed in trans flag colors (light blue, pink, white) and discusses its personal meaning; this episode features one of Lime Chiffon's gay fathers, Fluffy Chiffon. The series introduces multiple queer characters absent from prior Strawberry Shortcake iterations, including Lime Chiffon's two fathers, the sapphic couple Aunt Praline and Kiki KeyLime, and nonbinary/trans figures like Raisin Cane, marking the franchise's first such depictions.

Creator Michael Vogel's involvement aligns with these additions, and the show received GLAAD Media Award nominations for related episodes. Ethnicity adjustments to legacy characters (e.g., Blueberry Muffin portrayed as Asian, Lime Chiffon as Afro-Latina) further layer identity-focused casting changes.

Backlash emerged over the 'TransBerry' content being inappropriate for young audiences, with some regions rating the series 18+ due to these elements. While many episodes follow standard baking and friendship plots, the deliberate foregrounding of gender identity and non-traditional family structures in key storylines elevates the ideological centrality beyond incidental diversity.