How did Disney react to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education Bill?

Florida lawmakers gave final approval on Tuesday to the new Parental Rights in Education Bill, prompting widespread backlash across the country.

The law project – HB1557which critics call the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill – would ban discussion of LGBTQ topics and ‘sexual orientation or gender identity’ in Florida public schools, kindergarten through third grade .

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the invoice once it reaches his office. He has long supported the measure.

• “To provide protections for parents, preschoolers, kindergartners, first graders, I mean that’s something I think most parents would appreciate,” said DeSantis to reporters, according to CNN. “And we send children to school – young children – and we want them to learn the basics. Some of these issues that just aren’t age appropriate, I think parents want to see protection for that.

But the reviews spoke out against the bill in recent weeks saying it could harm LGBTQ children for a number of reasons.

More recently, companies including Disney have spoken out against the bill, stoking a battle between private companies and the governor of Florida.

Disney meets the bill

Bob Chapek, CEO of Disney responded to the bill, telling an annual meeting that the company opposes the legislation and wants to work with lawmakers to improve it, according to Deadline.

• “I understand that our political approach, however well-intentioned, hasn’t quite done the job,” he said.
• “I look forward to visiting the governor with a small delegation of actors involved in this movement,” the CEO said.
• Chapek commented on the bill after LGBTQ members of Disney staff sent a letter to him, asking for his support against the bill, by Variety.

Other companies are responding to the bill

Tech companies with offices in Florida — like Airbnb, Amazon, Twitter, and Microsoft, among others — recently signed a petition organized by Human Rights Campaign.

• However, the petition argues against anti-LGBTQ legislation and not the specific Florida bill.

Florida governor responds to Disney and other companies

DeSantishowever, applauded Disney and other companies who argued against the bill, saying the Florida government would not succumb to the wishes of “woke” companies, according to FoxNews.

• “When you have companies that have made a fortune from being family friendly and catering to families and young children, they have to understand that parents of young children don’t want this injected into the kindergarten classroom of their child, he said.
• “You have companies, like at Disney, which will say and criticize the rights of parents, they will criticize the fact that we do not want transgender in kindergarten in first grades,” he continued. “If this is the hill they are going to die on, then how can they explain lining their pockets with their relationship with the Chinese Communist Party? Because that’s what they do, and they make a fortune, and they don’t say a word about the really brutal practices that you see out there at the hands of the CCP.
• “And so in Florida, our policies must be based on the best interests of the citizens of Florida, not the daydream of woke corporations,” he added.