Disney Supports Florida Lawmakers Behind 'Don't Say Gay' Bill

Although the Walt Disney Company is supportive of LGBTQ+ employees and a vocal champion of equality, the House of Mouse is also a contributor to State Rep. Joe Harding and State Sen. Dennis Baxley, the lawmakers behind Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill.

"Last year, at least three Disney entities gave the chief sponsors of Florida's so-called 'Don't Say Gay' legislation $4,000 combined for their 2022 re-election campaigns," UK newspaper The Independent reported.

At the same time, the article pointed out, the company has touted its support of LGBTQ+ people, "celebrating Pride Month and publicly championing [equality] advocacy."

For more than a decade and a half, Disney has even found itself lauded annually as one of the "Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality" by the Human Rights Campaign, The Independent said. Disney made the list again for 2022.

But other equality advocates have not been shy about calling out Disney, as well as other big companies, for showing up to Pride, only to disappear again the rest of the year.

"Selling rainbow-colored merchandise in June every year is not allyship, it's marketing," Brandon Wolf of Equality Florida told The Independent, going on to say that companies owe it to their LGBTQ+ customers to make "good on the promises they make during Pride Month."

That disconnect may only be set to grow following the departure of Bob Iger – a dedicated equality advocate who was unafraid to align the company publicly with values of inclusivity – who stepped down as CEO in 2020 and left his position as board chairman art the end of last December, The Hollywood Reporter relayed.

Iger has already spoken out forcefully against the bill, tweeting that it would "put vulnerable, young LGBTQ people in jeopardy."

By contrast, new Disney head Bob Chapek, who took over as CEO in 2020, "does not bring any partisan agenda to work," THR reported, citing chief corporate affairs officer Geoff Morrell.

Morrell went on to say Chapek's view is that "the best way we can help create a more inclusive world is through the inspiring content we produce, the welcoming culture we create and the diverse community organizations we support."

Even so, the Magic Kingdom remains part of the real world, and its employees have to live under laws that may target them and their children for punitive treatment, or even erasure.

"Disney has 77,000 employees in Florida, where it operates both parks and cruises," THR pointed out.

Critics say that the "Don't Say Gay" bill will silence children with LGBTQ+ family members and create a less hospitable environment for children who may be LGBTQ+, themselves. Critics also worry about the bill's requirement that school staff report children to their parents if they indicate they may not be heterosexual or cisgender. Moreover, critics say the bill puts a bounty on teachers' heads by empowering parents to sue for classroom discussion of LGBTQ+ topics.

Disney is not the only major company that hands cash to anti-LGBTQ+ lawmakers. The Independent detailed that "Charter Communications, United Healthcare, Publix, AT&T, Walgreens and Amazon, among others" have funneled money to "the legislation's chief sponsors, the legislators who voted to support it, and Governor Ron DeSantis," while Comcast and Duke Energy have financially supported Harding and Baxley even as they have also made contributions to Democratic Florida state lawmakers who oppose the bill – something that Disney, too, has done.

But Disney seems to get more attention, possibly because so much of its business is located in Florida, including one of its signature theme parks, Walt Disney World. Across the country, in California, the company has allowed unofficial "Gay Days" at its Disneyland park for years.

There's also the attention to Disney's support of the controversial bill that award-winning documentary filmmaker Abigail Disney has drawn. Abigail Disney, IndieWire noted, who is "the daughter of former Disney animation head Roy E. Disney and great-niece of Walt Disney," spoke out against the bill, and against the financial support the company her great-uncle founded has provided to the bill's architects.

Abigail Disney slammed the company's "political activities, both in terms of whom they fund and how they lobby" in a tweet, IndieWire reported.