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Niles: Disney can’t play both sides in Florida ‘Don’t Say Gay’ battle

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Disney might be the world’s leading producer of fantasy, but it cannot escape a hard reality that the company has helped to create in Florida.

Cast members and critics have been attacking Disney management for the company’s support of politicians behind Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation. The bill would prohibit primary school teachers from talking about sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom.

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Last year, the Disney theme parks publicly added “Inclusion” to their long-standing guiding principles, or “Keys,” of “Safety, Courtesy, Show and Efficiency.” While Disney deserves credit for trying to make the company safe and welcoming to diverse cast members, those employees and their families deserve to feel safe and welcome when out in their community, as well.

When Disney last year also announced that it would move its Disney Parks, Experiences and Products segment headquarters — and more than 2,000 jobs — to the Orlando area, Chairman Josh D’Amaro lauded “Florida’s business-friendly climate.” Florida might be friendly to certain businesses, but the proposed legislation would be openly hostile to LGBTQ people as well as to businesses that speak out against it.

That creates an issue for Disney. The company is reportedly eligible for more than $500 million in tax breaks from the state of Florida for making that headquarters move. Disney, though its PAC, has given money to the campaigns of several of the lawmakers who supported not just the state’s corporate tax incentives but also its anti-gay legislation. (To be fair, so has rival Universal Studios theme parks owner Comcast.)

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I agree with Disney CEO Bob Chapek that “corporate statements do very little to change outcomes or minds,” as he wrote in a staff memo. Only cutting the flow of money to all lawmakers pushing anti-LGBTQ bills nationwide would have any real effect.

Choosing not to engage in partisan politics is an act of privilege. It says that the system is treating you well enough that you feel no need to work to change it. Chapek, D’Amaro and the rest of Disney’s leaders might enjoy that privilege, but countless Disney employees and customers do not.

So long as Disney keeps handing over cash to “business-friendly” and gay-bashing politicians, it is responsible for the legalized hostility that its cast members and their families must live under in Florida. No new “Inclusion” Key or pro-LGBTQ statements from Disney’s leadership will change that.

 

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