Employees Protest Controversial Florida Law on LGBT+ Issues at School

Disney employees in the United States demonstrated this week against the group’s “apathy” after the adoption in Florida of a controversial law banning teaching about sexual orientation in public schools. A movement of anger synonymous with headaches for the entertainment giant.

The problems began with an internal note sent on March 7 by Bob Chapek, the CEO of the company which notably employs more than 75,000 people in its Disney World amusement park in Orlando, among the most visited in the world. After meeting with employees belonging to the LGBT + community, the leader said he was hesitant to have Disney oppose Florida law, according to the document quoted by several local media. He argued that corporate communications “do very little to change things or minds” and, instead, “are often used as weapons of division by one side or the other.”

Walt Disney’s grandniece reacts

These statements, seen as a lack of support for the LGBT+ community, sparked a firestorm of criticism, and calls for a boycott began circulating on social media. Among the harshest critics was Abigail Disney, granddaughter of Roy Disney, the company’s co-founder with her brother Walt. “Many LGBTQI people and their allies work for or seek the support of Disney,” the activist and documentary filmmaker wrote on Twitter. “But Chapek is more worried about the right-wing reaction than his loyal supporters and employees.”

5/ Nothing about the “don’t say gay bill or about Chapek’s memo is consistent with any of these values. Many LGBTQI people and their allies work for or look to Disney for ally-ship. But Chapek is more worried about right-wing backlash than about his own loyal fans and employees.

— Abigail Disney (@abigaildisney) March 8, 2022

The law, dubbed by its opponents “Don’t say gay”, prohibits teachers from discussing issues of identity, gender and sexual orientation with their students, from their entrance in kindergarten until they are eight years old. For its critics, this text harms young people and parents of the LGBT + community and is part of the conservative offensive led for months by the Republican Party, which controls this state in the south-east of the United States.

A donation of 5 million dollars refused

The Disney boss tried to quickly put an end to the controversy. On March 9, at the annual general meeting of shareholders, he announced Disney’s donation of $5 million to pro-LGBT+ groups. He also said he called Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to express the company’s “disappointment and concern” over a law that “could be used to unfairly target gay, lesbian, non-gay children and families.” binary and gay”, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Wasted effort. The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), America’s largest LGTB+ advocacy organization, said it would refuse Disney’s donation until the company takes action to prevent similar drafts. to that of Florida “to become dangerous laws”. And LGBT+ workers at the animation studio Pixar, a Disney subsidiary, published a letter in the magazine Variety to denounce the fact that “nearly every moment of openly gay affection” in their works “is cut at the request” of the entertainment giant.

“Not up to par”

The controversy swelled further when media revealed that several Florida Republican elected officials in favor of the controversial law had received donations from Disney. Bob Chapek announced last Friday the suspension of all political donations from Disney to Florida until further notice. But the move didn’t convince Disney’s LGBT+ employee group that called for the protests this week.

In a text posted online, they demanded a permanent end to donations to elected officials involved in the adoption of this law in Florida and criticized the “apathy” of the group’s management. “Recent statements and inaction by directors” of Disney regarding this law “have not matched the magnitude of the threat to the safety of the LGBTQIA+ community that this law poses,” the statement said. “Disney must reaffirm the company’s commitment to protect and defend its LGBT+ people, even in the face of political risk,” he added. Employees therefore decided to protest every day during their break. The movement will culminate on Tuesday with a strike by LGBT + workers and their supporters across the country.