Disney Reels Over “Don’t Say Gay” Bill Rponse, Staff Debat Actn – The Hollywood Reporter

Contents:

• AFTER PROTTS, DISNEY CEO SPEAKS OUT AGAST FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL
• DISNEY WORKERS WALK OUT OVER THE PANY'S RPONSE TO SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL
• DISNEY EMPLOYE ARE STAGG WALKOUTS OVER PANY’S RPONSE TO THE ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
• 'I LET YOU DOWN': DISNEY CEO APOLOGIZ FOR 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL RPONSE
• WHAT DISNEY'S RPONSE TO THE 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL HAS TO DO WH LGBTQ+ REPRENTATN FILM
• AS DISNEY REELS OVER “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL RPONSE, STAFFERS DEBATE WHETHER TO TAKE PUBLIC OR PRIVATE STAND
• INSI DISNEY’S CHAOTIC “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL RPONSE
• DISNEY CEO APOLOGIZ TO EMPLOYE FOR RPONSE TO FLORIDA 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

AFTER PROTTS, DISNEY CEO SPEAKS OUT AGAST FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

The so-lled 'Don't Say Gay' bill was passed by Florida's Hoe and Senate and is head to Gov.

DISNEY WORKERS WALK OUT OVER THE PANY'S RPONSE TO SO-LLED 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

Ron DeSantis Wednday morng, "to exprs our disappotment and ncern that if the legislatn be law, uld be ed to unfairly target gay, lbian, non-bary and transgenr kids and fai. "The Human Rights Campaign will not accept this money om Disney until we see them build on their public mment and work wh LGBTQ+ advot to ensure that dangero proposals, like Florida's Don't Say Gay or Trans bill, don't bee dangero laws, and if they do, to work to get them off the books, " says Joni Madison, Interim Print of the Human Rights Campaign a statement.

DISNEY EMPLOYE ARE STAGG WALKOUTS OVER PANY’S RPONSE TO THE ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

Acrdg to the acuntabily news se Popular Informatn, " the last two years, Disney has donated $197, 162 to members of the Florida legislature that have already voted for the 'Don't Say Gay' legislatn, " cludg to sponsors of the bill, Florida Rep. On Sunday, before the so-lled "Don't Say Gay" bill passed the state Senate, Siemon posted an impassned vio plea llg for Disney to say the legislatn is wrong. Siemon creds one of his middle school teachers for helpg him unrstand that was OK to be gay.

Siemon implored the pany to stop supportg those policians, endg wh the words, "Disney, please say gay. The full-sle walkout me after Disney employe planned a seri of smaller walkouts durg their 15-mute breaks to urge the pany to take a stronger stance agast the Parental Rights Edutn legislatn, which advot have dubbed the "Don't Say Gay" bill. "The recent statements by The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) learship regardg the Florida legislature's recent 'Don't Say Gay' bill have utterly failed to match the magnu of the threat to LGBTQIA+ safety reprented by this legislatn, " an open letter by Disney employe reads.

Disney’s ntroversial rponse to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill unrsr the pany’s plited history wh the LGBTQ+ muny — a plex relatnship which Disney has played both champn and punchg bag. Earlier this month, Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke out about — but did not nmn — Florida’s ntroversial Parental Rights Edutn bill, which crics dubbed “Don’t Say Gay. Griff, who is also a profsor of film and media arts at Southern Methodist Universy, add that Disney has recently received a lot of publicy about var Disney films wh openly gay characters.

'I LET YOU DOWN': DISNEY CEO APOLOGIZ FOR 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL RPONSE

Even though Disney’s re product of fay-iendly entertament hasn’t been blatant s reprentatn of gay characters, ABC — which is owned by Disney — has done so wh TV shows like “Morn Fay” and “Ellen. ” In fact, “Ellen” had the first gay lead character on TV 1997. Disney has historilly had many gay employe, too.

Last week, Disney and s CEO Bob Chapek bungled their rponse to Florida’s ntroversial bill dubbed “Don’t Say Gay. Several years ago, they chose Southern California partly for the parks and beme Magic Key passholrs so they uld vis Plows' ardor for Disney was recently shaken by the pany's rponse to what crics have dubbed Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, which would rtrict speech on sexual orientatn and genr inty  public school classrooms. DISNEY CEO (FINALLY) SPEAKS OUT:But where's the gay Disney fairy tale?

'DON'T SAY GAY':Lawmaker behd Florida bill pulls amendment requirg schools to out stunts"Right now, I'm lookg at my Disneyland lanyard, which has Pri ps all over , " she said Tuday. Disney's rponse to Florida's 'Don't Say Gay' billWalt Disney Co. She started an onle petn mandg Disney publicly "nounce the 'Don't Say Gay' bill and vow not to fund the sponsors aga.

WHAT DISNEY'S RPONSE TO THE 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL HAS TO DO WH LGBTQ+ REPRENTATN FILM

"Dena lled Wednday's show of support "a ltle too late, " while notg Disney is quick to "take our money" when to "Pri, Gay Days and all the merchandise they have surroundg Pri Month.

In recent weeks, the Republin Florida ernor Ron Dantis is set to sign a bill to the Hoe of Reprentativ tled "Hoe Bill 1557" which has bee known lloquially as the Don't Say Gay Bill, due to the l seeks to enact around tn on LGBTQIA+, genr, and sexualy. While the bill adds that schools are not required to munite rmatn to parents if tors believe there is a risk of “abe, abandonment, or neglect, ” draws a le the sand around what is nsired 'acceptable homophobic behavur' vs 'abe'. As a rult, on Tuday, March 22, Disney employe staged a walkout to mand actnable steps om Disney over the Don't Say Gay Bill.

AS DISNEY REELS OVER “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL RPONSE, STAFFERS DEBATE WHETHER TO TAKE PUBLIC OR PRIVATE STAND

Axelle/Ber-Griff//Getty ImagThere were those associated wh Disney who uldn't cease work, cludg Moon Knight star Osr Isaac who, when asked for ment, told Variety: "I gus my ment would be [starts sgg] gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gayyyyyy! Up until recently, Disney remaed quiet on the bill, but as well know evokg silence the face of discrimatn is sidg wh an opprsor, and Disney's se they are sidg wh homophobic bigotry. Wh the Don't Say Gay Bill, the pany has the abily to create actnable change.

But, a dramatic parture om the pany’s long-standg culture of public posivy, some LGBTQ employe of the media giant have been breakg that le to object to Disney’s handlg of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. What prev eras might have sparked ternal employee gmblg about a pany policy stead went public spectacular fashn, thanks to mountg tratn over anti-gay legislatn croppg up natnally, a generatnal change how employe view their activism at work, and a tight job market animatn that means there are other attractive plac bis Disney to make animated films and TV shows. Even after Chapek’s apologetic March 11 memo and pse of polil donatns to Florida policians, employe were still anizg polil actns signed to keep the heat on the pany, cludg a seri of walkouts begng March 15, mandg that Disney permanently stop donatg to 22 Florida policians volved the creatn or passage of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and that create an LGBTQ brand siar to the Onyx Collective, a ntent brand for creativ of lor that Disney lnched 2021.

Disney employe and creators wh ti to the pany began sharg their feelgs about the pany’s stance on social media g the hashtags #dontsaygay and #disneydobetter, and, separate letters to Disney learship that were shared publicly, employe of Pixar Animatn, Disney TV Animatn and Disney Media & Entertament Distributn all exprsed their disappotment. “Nearly every moment of overtly gay affectn is cut at Disney’s beht, regardls of when there is prott om both the creative teams and learship at Pixar, ” the letter said. (Sponsors of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, like GOP Rep.

INSI DISNEY’S CHAOTIC “DON’T SAY GAY” BILL RPONSE

In the days leadg up to CEO Bob Chapek’s apology, Disney’s LGBTQ employe didn’t hold back their cricism of the pany’s public silence on Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill and were already gearg up for an creasgly ght and “exhstg fight. They also volly rejected the CEO’s pledg ma durg the Wednday shareholr meetg, ternally and, an unual move for pany employe, publicly on social media, wh hashtags like #DisneySayGay and #DisneyDoBetter.

DISNEY CEO APOLOGIZ TO EMPLOYE FOR RPONSE TO FLORIDA 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

Employe mand Chapek release a statement explicly nmng the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and siar legislatn other stat, wh others also askg the pany to acknowledge the wave of anti-trans legislatn proposed and passg stat like Geia, Texas and Idaho. Disney will pse all polil donatns Florida after tense cricism over how the media giant rpond to state legislatn that would lim discsn of LGBTQ issu schools, CEO Bob Chapek said a letter to employe also apologized to his lleagu for not takg a more forceful stand agast what activists ll the "Don't Say Gay" legislatn Florida. "Disney has faced tense public scty and ternal cricism over how rpond to the "Don't Say Gay" legislatn, wh some fltg Chapek for sayg a memo that the pany n make the "biggt impact" by "creatg a more clive world through the spirg ntent we produce.