The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) continues to cater to its vocal LGBTQ employees at the risk of ostracizing its less-progressive employees and family audiences, this time forming a task force on gay and transgender issues to develop a plan to be a “force for good” for those communities, according to the Washington Examiner.
The announcement is just the latest effort to win favor with LGBTQ employees angered by CEO Bob Chapek’s initial decision to stay silent on Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Act, which prohibits teachers from discussing sexuality with children in grades K-3 and requires school boards to establish parental notification procedures about their rights to make “decisions regarding the upbringing and control of their children.”
In typical left-wing fashion, liberals and mainstream-media outlets attempted to misrepresent the legislation by dubbing it the “Don’t Say Gay bill.” But when confronted by the bill’s actual language, a large majority of voters support the bill’s intent, according to a poll by the Daily Wire, which found 69 percent of Republicans, 57 percent of Independents, and even 62 percent of Democrats supported the bill.
As noted by the Examiner, Disney faced criticism from the LGBTQ community earlier this month after Chapek defended the company’s silence on the bill.
“I want to be crystal clear: I and the entire leadership team unequivocally stand in support of our LGBTQ+ employees, their families, and their communities. And, we are committed to creating a more inclusive company — and world,” he said in the memo, according to the Hollywood Reporter. “As we have seen time and again, corporate statements do very little to change outcomes or minds. Instead, they are often weaponized by one side or the other to further divide and inflame. Simply put, they can be counterproductive.”
But just days later, Chapek told shareholders that Disney opposed the bill “from the outset” and announced it would make $5 million in donations to groups advocating for gay and transgender rights and would halt all political donations in Florida.
In addition to the creation of the new task force, Disney has also announced that Chapek and his senior leaders will be leading a global listening tour to meet with the company’s employees and hear their concerns about Disney’s response to the highly popular Florida law.
“We know the moment requires urgency, and words are not enough,” Chapek told Disney employees at a virtual town hall. “So we are taking some actions right now.”
Meanwhile, employees at Disney who identify as more conservative and Christian have been pleading with Chapek and other top leaders to remain neutral and focus on creating family-friendly content rather than wading into this highly controversial debate. In an open letter to TWDC published in the American Conservative, employees also described an atmosphere at the company in which they feel targeted and marginalized:
As employees of the Walt Disney Company, we believe in the dignity of all people. This is why we do what we do. We write stories. We make costumes. We act in parades. We run cruises. We stream movies. We make magic. We do this because our work contributes to a fountain of wonder that inspires joy, awe, and delight in guests and audiences of all ages. We are proud employees of the Walt Disney Company. We love our jobs because we get to share the wonder of life and human experience with millions of people worldwide.
However, over the last few years, one group of cast members has become invisible within the company. The Walt Disney Company has come to be an increasingly uncomfortable place to work for those of us whose political and religious views are not explicitly progressive. We watch quietly as our beliefs come under attack from our own employer, and we frequently see those who share our opinions condemned as villains by our own leadership.
The company’s evolving response to the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation in Florida has left many of us wondering what place we have in a company actively promoting a political agenda so far removed from our own. TWDC leadership frequently communicates its commitment to creating an inclusive workplace where cast members feel comfortable sharing their perspectives and being their authentic selves at work. That is not our workplace experience.
The letter continues at length to describe how poorly the company treats less-progressive employees.
It also goes on to encourage Chapek to return to his original neutral stance on Florida’s legislation:
Disney is far more important and impactful to the world by avoiding politics than it will ever be by embracing a political agenda. By focusing on entertainment that inspires us with stories of universal appeal, we are doing good in the world.
Disney shouldn’t be a vehicle for one demographic’s political activism. It’s so much bigger and more important than that. More than ever, the world needs things that we can unite around. That’s the most valuable role The Walt Disney Company could play in the world at this time. It’s a role we’ve played for nearly a century, and it would be a shame to throw all of that away in the face of left-wing political pressure. Please don’t let Disney become just another thing we divide over.
Sadly, it appears TWDC is more concerned about placating progressives than maintaining any semblance of a family-friendly reputation. According to Variety, Disney’s Pixar has restored a same-sex kiss to its upcoming film Lightyear, set to hit theaters June 17, in yet another effort to apologize for its initial response to the Florida parental-rights bill. The film, which focuses on the real-life inspiration for the Toy Story character Buzz Lightyear, features a prominent female character named Hawthorne who was already depicted as having a “meaningful relationship” with another woman, Variety wrote, a point that may have been missed by young audiences were it not for a kiss between the two characters. Initially cut from the film, the kiss was reinstated following the backlash from employees over the Florida parental-rights bill.
