Florida Governor Ron DeSantis recently signed the “Parents Rights in Education Bill,” which stops teaching children from kindergarten to the third grade about sexual ideology in public schools. The Walt Disney Company has vocally opposed the new law.
“Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law,” the company tweeted on March 28.
Governor DeSantis had strong words for The Walt Disney Company in response, questioning why Disney supposedly feels the need to bring the subject of sexual ideology into children’s classrooms.
“Why is the hill to die on, to have transgenderism injected into kindergarten classrooms or woke gender ideology injected into second-grade classrooms?” he asked.
According to Zero Hedge, DeSantis complained that Disney did not have anything to say about the bill until the company received pushback for not fighting it.
DeSantis was referencing the fact that the statement opposing the legislation, released by Disney on March 11, notes that the company’s response was prompted by backlash from its staff regarding its previous silence on the subject.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek wrote in the statement that several employees had expressed disappointment in Disney’s response, noting the “pain, anger, and grief” they felt at the company’s lack of a reaction to the law and claiming the legislation posed a “threat to fundamental human rights.”
The Disney CEO apologized, stating, “You (Disney employees) expected me to be a more stalwart supporter in the struggle for equal rights, and I disappointed you.” He noted that he plans to be an “outspoken advocate” for the issue moving forward.
Tucker Carlson interviewed Governor DeSantis about Disney’s opposition to the bill, and the governor suggested that Disney is obsessed with sexualizing children.
Recently, four Disney employees were charged with human trafficking, and one of the suspects allegedly sent sexually explicit texts to an undercover policeman. The investigation was dubbed “Operation March Sadness,” as reported in The Dallas Express.
DeSantis said claims against what critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” bill are overblown. He said that Disney and others had portrayed the legislation negatively so they could accuse him of creating an anti-gay bill. DeSantis argued that parties who opposed the bill were doing so to cover up the fact that they support the sexualization of children as young as 5 years old, which the public would reject.
The Florida governor also implied that Disney was hypocritical. He claimed Disney only spoke out about this issue because it was convenient for the company’s image but would keep quiet about matters it did not want broadcast when it was profiting off of them.
Referencing Disney’s presence in China, he claimed, “If we had done a bill that prohibited talking about the abuse of Uyghurs in China, Disney would have supported that legislation because they don’t want to say a word about that.”
He also provided the example that the company’s cruises stop on the island nation of Dominica, where homosexuality can be punished with prison terms, Newsweek reports.
“It’s just an odd manifestation of their corporate values,” DeSantis said. “They’re fine doing that and lining their pockets.”
Christopher F. Rufo, a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and a contributing editor of City Journal, recently wrote an opinion piece that discusses Disney’s diversity programs. He claimed the company was participating in a “campaign to embed left-wing sexual politics into its children’s programming and entertainment facilities.”
He shared the same sentiment with Fox News host Tucker Carlson, declaring Disney was “deliberately trying to take programming that goes from even ages 2 to 7 years old and inject queerness into [it].”
According to Rufo, Disney held a “Reimagine Tomorrow Conversation Series” on Zoom focused on catering to the LGBTQ community. The journalist’s report says he obtained a video of the series.
Per Rufo, in the meetings, Disney Executive Producer Latoya Raveneau reportedly stated her team was implementing a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” and regularly “adding queerness” to children’s programs.
Rufo also mentioned Production Coordinator Allen Martsch apparently said his team was tracking the amount of “canonical trans characters, canonical asexual characters, [and] canonical bisexual characters” to ensure their representation.
Walt Disney President of General Entertainment Karey Burke reportedly stated Disney plans to make at least 50% of its characters either LGBTQ or racial minorities by the end of 2022.
According to the company plans, Disney executives seek to make significant changes to the company’s operations, from the usage of gender pronouns at its theme parks to the sexual orientation of background characters in its films.
Burke claimed in the meeting that Disney stories included many LGBTQ characters. Still, she added, these characters so far had not been able to be themselves in storylines that did not necessarily revolve around being a member of that community.
“Our tales have a plethora of LGBTQIA characters, but there are insufficient protagonists and storylines in which gay characters are allowed to be characters without having to be about homosexual experiences. That has been really eye-opening for me, and I can tell you that if this moment had not occurred, I believe that I, as a leader, and [my] colleagues would not have focused on it,” Burke said in the Zoom meeting.
She continued, “Going ahead, I am positive that I will be more vigilant, as I am certain that we will be, and I hope that this is a point when … we just do not allow each other to regress,” USSA News reports.
Disney CEO Chapek wrote in the March 11 statement that the company would provide funding for advocacy groups to fight similar laws that may be presented in the future. He stated Disney was “creating a new framework for [its] political giving that will ensure [its] advocacy better reflects [its] values” and “pausing all political donations in the state of Florida pending this review.”
In its March 28 statement, Disney expressed hope that the law will be repealed or struck down.
