The Walt Disney Company, and especially CEO Bob Chapek, have been criticized recently for their late response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Now, another major political leader has weighed in on the discussion of this bill and how it could impact Disney.
The “Don’t Say Gay” bill was passed in the Florida Senate and House of Representatives, and it is currently on the desk of Governor Ron DeSantis for his signature. Recently, Governor Gavin Newsom of California tweeted a response to the bill, specifically addressing Disney and referencing their upcoming transfer of over 2,000 jobs from California to Florida.
To put it very simply, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill proposes a variety of rules and regulations on when and how teachers and staff at public schools can discuss gender and sexual orientation. Some of these restrictions include no classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity between kindergarten and third grade, as well as a requirement to notify parents and healthcare services about any changes to children’s mental, physical, or emotional health.
Although former Disney CEO Bob Iger tweeted his response to the bill — stating that he was against it — after it passed in the House of Representatives, the current CEO, Bob Chapek, remained quiet about the company’s position until later on.
After the bill passed in the Florida Senate as well, Chapek acknowledged the company’s lack of response and apologized in a company-wide email to Disney employees. Since then, many people have criticized his reaction and timing, and some Disney Cast Members have planned walkouts to show their disapproval of the company’s actions.
One of the most recent responses about the “Don’t Say Gay” bill came from California Governor Gavin Newsom. Newsom tweeted, “Disney, the door is open to bring those jobs back to California — the state that actually represents the values of your workers.”
Disney, the door is open to bring those jobs back to California – the state that actually represents the values of your workers. https://t.co/kbCi7Zgs90
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 13, 2022
However, the Orange County Register has pointed out that “if Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Chapek really wants to send a message to Florida that he objects to its ‘Don’t Say Gay’ legislation, he’d hit the state where it hurts.” By keeping the jobs in California, it would send a message of Chapek’s disapproval of the Florida bill and its supporting politicians. Chapek has confirmed that the Disney company has paused all political contributions to Florida politicians and is currently reconsidering its donation strategy here.
UPDATE: After the signing of the bill in Florida, Newsom tweeted again re-emphasizing the desire to bring Disney jobs back to the state of California
Hey Disney –
We here in California respect your employees’ families.
We think our LGBTQ residents are part of what makes our state great.
Let’s talk.https://t.co/C7QzkiEXWg
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 29, 2022
The Register also referenced recent comments from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, which criticized the Disney company as being “another ‘woke’ corporation” after their response to the bill.
Some Disney employees have echoed Governor Newsom’s request that the relocation to Florida be canceled in light of the legislation. These employees shared their concerns on the website built to organize walkouts in protest of Disney’s response.
Disney has not responded to Newsom’s invitation to keep the jobs in California. We’ll continue to watch for more updates on this developing story, so stay tuned with AllEars.
Learn more about Disney’s response to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill here.
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1. Hate to see AllEars becoming such a “political” site.
2. Chapek didn’t say anything about this legislation and will not say or do much about it until he can figure out how to make money from his actions. His past history shows he only acts when there is money to be made for Disney. They are still peddling the rainbow merch every chance they have and IMO, money is the same driving force that has given us “Minority Princesses”. I’ve seen very little to indicate Disney really cares about any racial or sexual minorities’ well being.
3. As far as the legislation goes, from what I understand from researching it, it is problematic but not in the way most are portraying it. The class room discussion part is really just common sense that probably wasn’t happening anyway but the conservatives made a law where one wasn’t needed and the liberals are crying it’s the end of our freedoms when it’s not.
The really concerning part of the law should be that parents are required to be notified by the schools about any change in a child’s school provided health care. This doesn’t just stop at sexual orientation. It will include EVERYTHING, including birth control, pregnancy, STD’s. I’m old school and believe parents should already be engaged and know what’s going on in their child’s life, but I’m also modern enough to realize kids now have access to many services without their parent’s knowledge and since that “genie” has already been let out of the bottle, it could well be problematic for parents to suddenly be informed that the school nurse believes Suzie’s birth control methods should be altered, or that Tommy has been provided with medications for an STD. IMHO, the legislation shouldn’t have been written nor approved, but parents should also be engaged enough to realize if their child has non traditional feelings about their sexuality. No law will ever bridge the gap for non engaged parenting. For those who care, I’m a moderate conservative, but that doesn’t mean I blindly follow the self proclaimed leaders.
I agree with almost everything you wrote. My only issue is with the new law. Those non- engaged parents will now have no choice but to become engaged. Can’t see a problem with this.
The bill in question is titled “Parental Rights in Education”. It is not called the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Regardless of its name, Disney is not going to move jobs away from a state where they are giving money to state lawmakers and has a large portion of their business there. Newsome knows this, too.
Even if Chapek has put a stop to funding some of the Florida lawmakers, we all know its temporary. Once the first week a June passes (the annual Gay Days event at WDW) and the mid-term elections approach, Disney will once again start donating to Florida lawmakers’ campaigns.
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