“It is time to void your household of all things Disney.”
Those words, told to Fox News by Patti Garibay of Ohio, sum up the feelings of an increasing number of conservative and Christian parents who are fed up with the Walt Disney Company’s embrace of the “woke” agenda.
“Walt Disney most often cited his most important lesson as that of ‘goodwill always triumphs over evil.’ Today’s Disney promotes a full spectrum of lifestyles that rarely align with the biblical values of good and evil, which God calls us to,” said Garibay, executive director and founder of American Heritage Girls, a Christian scouting organization.
Disney, a name once synonymous with “family-friendly,” has, of course, been slowly heading down the woke path for years. Disney theme parks have welcomed gay-pride events. Disney sitcoms and movies have featured homosexual characters. The company has pushed critical race theory on its employees and eliminated gender-specific greetings in its parks.
Recently, however, the entertainment giant has really stepped up its game. When the Left went into a tizzy about a new Florida law prohibiting public schools from teaching young children about deviant sexual behaviors and gender identities, Disney CEO Bob Chapek fell in line, stating that his company’s “goal” is to see the law either repealed or overturned by the courts. Disney also restored a deleted same-sex kissing scene to its upcoming film Lightyear, and has vowed to make at least half of its on-screen characters sexual or racial minorities.
“Disney,” observed Garibay, “is now devoted to confusing your children.”
Garibay isn’t alone in her determination to rid her house of Mickey Mouse. Several other parents told Fox News they’re doing some Disney dumping of their own.
A Tennessee father said he won’t be exposing his daughter “to any of Disney’s products — anything they stream, or the theme parks.” He also believes Disney’s thinking regarding children’s entertainment choices is behind the times. “Disney doesn’t seem to understand that parents have so many options now,” he explained. “Ultimately, I think they’re going to lose on this wokeness gamble.”
“I gave up on Disney years ago when they started opening the parks up for gay pride activities while families were there,” a Massachusetts grandmother declared. “A children’s theme park is no place for this. You can’t promote both innocence and sex at the same time. This was a clear signal to families about where they are headed as a company.”
Oklahoma mom Kelly Claggett said, “Disney used to offer us wonderful content that reinforced good values. When I read about ‘woke Disney,’ my friends and I all felt the same way — clearly the executives at Disney live in some kind of bubble and don’t know everyday moms and dads like us.” She claimed she and “almost everyone I know” are abandoning the Mouse House and “looking for and watching alternatives like ‘The Tuttle Twins.’”
“I think placating a small subset of the loudest [Disney] employees who obviously haven’t even read the Florida bill sets a really dangerous standard,” said a father of two in the New York City area. “But it’s the same standard that we’ve seen from progressives over the last 20-30 years. In this scenario, the loudest, squeakiest, most annoying wheel gets the grease.”
He said he’s done taking his kids to Disney parks and will likely “do away with Disney as an entity” so he doesn’t have to monitor everything his kids watch.
Southern Evangelical Seminary president Judge Phil Ginn, a father of four, said Disney’s “hedonistic concepts of sexuality would make even Uncle Walt blush.”
“Maybe it’s time,” he added, “for true Christians to break some bad habits about how we spend our money for entertainment — and speak out against the creeping evil in our culture not only with our words, but our pocketbooks as well.”
Although past consumer boycotts have seldom effected any meaningful change, if enough people decide to duck Disney, perhaps this time will be different.
“They’ve tarnished their brand,” a New Jersey woman told Fox News. But, she said, “My hope is that the company comes to its senses, remembers who their customers are and gets back to doing what they do best: Entertain ‘dreamers of all ages.’”
