Disney employees — ranging from characters in the theme parks to writers on their TV shows — are speaking out against their employer after reports the company donated money to politicians sponsoring the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
The Florida Senate passed the legislation on Tuesday by just five votes. It previously contained a provision that would have forced teachers in Florida to notify parents of students’ sexual orientation, but that amendment was withdrawn. Now the bill bans “classroom instruction” on sexual orientation or gender identity for students in kindergarten through third grade and teaching “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students.”
Disney donated nearly $200,000 over the course of two years to members of the Florida legislature that pushed forward the legislation, according to the government accountability news site Popular Information. A Disney representative did not respond to an inquiry from BuzzFeed News regarding the donation report.
Current and former Disney employees spoke out on social media to express their disappointment in tweets and videos, as well as in interviews. Even a descendant of Walt Disney’s has joined the outcry.
“If this bill was in place when I was growing up, I probably would not be here,” Franky Jr., a trans former cast member at Walt Disney World, told BuzzFeed News.
I’m fucking tired of making Disney look good so WHO’S READY FOR ANOTHER ✨CHARITY LIVESTREAM✨ MARCH 13th!!!
— Dana Terrace (@DanaTerrace) March 7, 2022
More details to come. ?️? #dontsaygay #disneydobetter pic.twitter.com/1MtumvjfB0
Critics argue the law could strip vulnerable students their support systems by preventing any classroom discussion of gender or sexuality at any age, putting them at further risk of isolation and bullying. The bill, which allows parents to sue over these issues, could also open up already cash-strapped public schools to expensive lawsuits. It is now on the desk of Gov. Ron DeSantis, who has indicated he will sign it into law. It would go into effect July 1.
“If I were to have been outed to people I wasn’t ready to come out to back then and the school wasn’t a safe place for me, then there is no way I would have been able to come out in high school,” Franky Jr. added. “There is no way I would have been able to have a safety net or safe place to figure out who I am, figure out exactly what I like, exactly how I want to dress.”
Franky Jr. worked at the theme park off and on from 2015 to 2021. He said support from his fellow cast members is part of what encouraged him to medically transition and pursue hormone therapy.
Disney donating to politicians supporting the “Don’t Say Gay” bill doesn’t make sense, he said, because it would harm the cast members and their families who view the parks as an escape.
Disney has explicitly not spoken out on the bill. And in lieu of a statement to BuzzFeed News, a Disney spokesperson forwarded an email from CEO Bob Chapek that was sent to employees on Monday.
Chapek wrote that he and the leadership team support LGBTQ employees and their families and communities. But Disney has not issued a statement because “corporate statements do very little to change outcomes or minds.” Instead, he wrote, statements just divide.
But Abigail Disney, the grand-niece of Walt Disney who has been openly critical of the company, tweeted that Chapek is more worried about “right-wing backlash” than his fans or employees.
“The times for neutrality are long since over,” she tweeted. “That train has left the goddam station. What is Disney for? Is it for pretending what America is about, or it is for defining a vision for a world in which fantasy, love, kindness, decency and loyalty are bedrock values.”
4/ The times for neutrality are long since over. That train has left the goddam station. What is Disney for? Is it for pretending what America is about, or it is for defining a vision for a world in which fantasy, love, kindness, decency and loyalty are bedrock values.
— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) March 8, 2022
Colleen Evanson, who is the lead writer for a Disney+ show that has yet to be released, told BuzzFeed News that as an ally, she is upset and outraged for her LGBTQ coworkers.
“It’s really frustrating when Disney is trying to champion and have more diversity and inclusion both on camera and behind the scenes, and they want to sell these rainbow Mickeys during pride,” Evanson said. “But it just feels like virtue signaling when you’re not willing to take a stand.”
It’s confusing to Evanson considering Disney has taken political stands in the past. After the insurrection on Jan. 6, Disney stopped contributing to politicians who refused to certify President Joe Biden’s win. And in 2016, Disney threatened to stop filming in Georgia if the state passed an anti-LGBTQ law.
I am a LGBT animation writer at Disney and this is why I want the company I love to take a stand against the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. #DisneySayGay #DisneyDoBetter pic.twitter.com/n8g0kgTkKf
— Benjamin Siemon (@BenjaminJS) March 6, 2022
Lucy Boheme, who is trans and worked as a Disney World cast member from 2007 to 2008, told BuzzFeed News that when she was growing up, Disney was a source of comfort for her.
“My earliest memory is being about 2 to 3 years old and being beaten because I was acting too ‘girly,'” Boheme said. “I vividly remember being hit, but Winnie the Pooh was on TV. Somehow, my child mind got lost in the Hundred Acre Wood. I couldn’t feel the blows. And from that moment, Disney became a source of comfort.”
When she was 18, she came out and moved to Florida to work at Disney World. She still believed in the magic, she said.
“I believed that if I stayed kind and true to myself I would find family and friends who accepted me just as I was,” she said about working there. And she did.
So Chapek not taking a stand against the “Don’t Say Gay” bill hurts just that much more.
“Today, Bob Chapek told me that the magic I’ve believed in for my entire life is not for LGBTQ+ people like me anymore,” Boheme said, referring to the email.
“We aren’t worthy enough to be stood up for, treated equally or humanized. Bob’s statement today has made it crystal clear that he doesn’t care about LGBTQ+ people, just the money we give him,” she continued. “The magic has died for me, and the little queer kid being beaten for being queer is crying and alone again.”
Kaitlyn Ritter, a director of the same unreleased Disney+ show as Evanson, told BuzzFeed News in an email that her late father, who also worked for Disney, would be disappointed in the company’s stance.
“The blood and suffering of LGBTQIA+ children will be on Disney’s hands thanks to their support of this life-altering bill,” Ritter, who identifies as bisexual, said. “It breaks my heart.”
Ritter added that she feels devalued by her company and fearful of the future her company has allegedly contributed to creating.
“I am truly feeling broken today, as someone who, since childhood, trusted, and loved, and hoped to grow at this company. Who, as an adult, makes content for the children of our future, under the Disney company, while knowing the truth about Disney’s true stance on their safety,” she wrote.
“Make it make sense, Disney,” she added.
I don’t care if you people want to play that you are a different sex than your birth certificate says you are, but do not tell me I have to believe or accept all this crap we are being told. Look at your body what do you see, that is what you are.
the old marine
I don’t care if you people want to play that you are a different sex than your birth certificate says you are, but do not tell me I have to believe or accept all this crap we are being told. Look at your body what do you see, that is what you are.
the old marine
Satan’s disciples at work, spreading evil in the guise of compassion and most of the sheeple are buying into this scheme to harvest souls that will reside in Hell for eternity! All of you deluded leftists can deny The Truth all that you want but come judgment day you’ll have wished that you hadn’t succumbed to the Devil’s plan! Repent now or suffer later, that’s all I have to say! R.I.P., USA, BABYLON II, you are about to witness your just due! We are already witnessing the destruction of this once great CHRISTIAN Nation! The Truth hurts but makes you free, we as a nation have lost our freedom due to the forestated reality of which I have just proclaimed!
Frankly,
People are sick of LGBTQ and whatever other letter is added this week, of cramming your lifestyles down everyone else’s throats. You are less discriminated against than white males. Be quiet about your sexuality and sit down. Heterosexuals don’t go screaming about who they are so get over yourselves. Nobody cares who you are or what you do with your body or in your bedroom. Just do it and quit screaming about it!!
Frankly,
People are sick of LGBTQ and whatever other letter is added this week, of cramming your lifestyles down everyone else’s throats. You are less discriminated against than white males. Be quiet about your sexuality and sit down. Heterosexuals don’t go screaming about who they are so get over yourselves. Nobody cares who you are or what you do with your body or in your bedroom. Just do it and quit screaming about it!! If you want to change who God made you to be, then just do it and live with the consequences!!
Once again the lies of the liberal media reach far and wide. The bill passed in Florida IS NOT AGAINST GAYS OR TRANS – it is against teaching/pushing these ideas on to children from pre-school thru 3rd grade. Why can’t these fools get that thru their thick heads? The person who wrote their letter of indignation must be a real idiot or else they can’t read. This is the problem. The liberal media interprets everything to meet their narrative and so they lie and exaggerate the truth.
gay bay faggots are to be dumped in china and nk. They know what to do with these idiots.
Children in kindergarten and the primary grades through three are in general totally oblivious to understanding such subjects as “sexual preference” and “gender identity.” If Johnny comes to school wearing a dress, and a child asks the teacher why he is doing that, if she says, “ Because he wants to”!, most children will say, “OK,” and just go back to playing.
Let’s allow children to be children a little longer without asking them to make decisions for themselves that they cannot properly understand.
And if some parents are angry that these issues are NOT being taught in school, they can and should deal with the subjects themselves at home.
If you want to change your sex ok, but do not advertise it. We as people do not have to agree with what you do to your body. So we do not have to support it .