The Walt Disney Company is joining the fight to repeal Florida’s new law expanding parental education rights and banning classroom instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third grade.
The company released a statement hours after Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the legislation, which critics have dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, saying it “should never have been signed into law.”
“Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that,” Disney said on Monday. “We are dedicated to standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country.”
DESANTIS RIPS ‘HOLLYWOOD ELITES’ AFTER OSCARS MOCK FLORIDA
Statement from The Walt Disney Company on signing of Florida legislation: pic.twitter.com/UVI7Ko3aKS
— Walt Disney Company (@WaltDisneyCo) March 28, 2022
Disney CEO Bob Chapek halted the company’s political donations in Florida on March 11 and apologized for the company’s initial refusal to take a stand against the bill, which is formally called the Parental Rights in Education Act. The company’s iconic Disney World Resort is located in Orlando, Florida, and Disney has over 60,000 employees in the state, making it the largest employer in central Florida, according to the Orlando Business Journal.
A group of conservative employees at the company wrote an open letter asking the Walt Disney Company to remain politically neutral over the Florida bill. One of the employees behind the letter told the Washington Examiner during an interview on Wednesday that some right-leaning Disney employees have been discussing their concerns with each other outside of work channels and that they don’t want to see the company become “a political arm of the Democratic Party.”
The phrase “Don’t Say Gay” does not appear in the text of Florida’s law, which also consigns parents the right to sue school districts that defy it.
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The Walt Disney Company has not yet responded to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment.
