John,
You’ll never guess who funded Florida’s horrific “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would make it illegal to discuss LGBTQ+ issues, including history, in Florida classrooms.1 That funder is none other than Walt Disney Company.2 In the past two years, they have donated $197,126 to supporters of the bill.3 That’s right; the beloved institution behind our beloved childhood movie nights is bankrolling the very same politicians who want to make it illegal to teach our children accurate and complete history in schools. That's why we're asking you to join the fight and demand that Disney stop funding the legislators who voted for this bill and any legislators across the country who support similar legislation restricting what our children can be taught in schools.
TELL DISNEY: STOP FUNDING HATE!
The company that owns theme parks dubbed the “happiest place on Earth'' has been gleefully taking the LGBTQ+ community’s money with designated Disneyland Pride celebrations and expensive Pride-themed merchandise; then, Disney betrays those people by handing it to hateful legislators that are shepherding our LGBTQ+ youth into an era of danger and uncertainty and conspiring to make any teaching of Black and LGBTQ+ history impossible.4 The company itself employs tens of thousands of people in Florida, and many of those people have children in Florida’s school system, yet Disney’s leadership has so far remained silent on the issue and not decided to stop funding bigots who support bills like “Don’t Say Gay.”5 Disney knows what they’re doing is wrong, too. After Disney was called out about their funding of these anti-LGBTQ+ legislators, Disney CEO Bob Chapek said in a leaked internal memo that the company’s "entire leadership team unequivocally stand[s] in support of [its] LGBTQ+ employees, their families, and their communities.” Chapek goes on to say that Disney’s television shows like “Modern Family… are more powerful than any tweet or lobbying effort” and that their “ability to tell such stories… would be diminished if [Disney] were to become a political football in any debate.”6
Let’s be clear: Modern Family won’t stop Florida’s children from growing up without the crucial knowledge and necessary community support that will affirm and empower them for years to come.
We’ve held Disney accountable in the past by forcing Disney to stop funding supporters of the January 6th insurrection and stopped them from white-washing Princess Tiana.7 Now we’re pressuring them to stop empowering and emboldening bigots who put our children at risk. Just weeks before, Texas passed a controversial anti-trans bill that classifies lifesaving gender-affirming care as “child abuse.”8 We’ve seen this play out in states across the country with so-called “critical race theory,” with several states passing bills to make it illegal to teach accurate American history – including the history of historically-marginalized groups.9 Make no mistake; the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and anti-critical race theory legislation are essentially the same thing. They are a rejection of our country’s history and prevent our children from learning the whole truth.
Demand that Disney stop funding anti-black and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation!
Disney needs to understand that posturing on Twitter and riding on the coattails of a show that’s been off the air for nearly two years is not enough to protect the Black LGBTQ+ community from violence, homelessness, and neglect. In fact, studies have shown that Black LGBTQ+ youth disproportionately experience mental health illnesses, lower access to medical care, higher levels of homelessness and confinement in the juvenile justice system, and higher rates of discrimination and violence. 10,11,12
Disney can say whatever they want online and in internal memos; the money they send to these bigoted legislators is violence in action. Our children deserve to know the true history of our country; by bending to the will of hatred, children across the country will continue to suffer. Everyone’s history is essential to the fabric of our country, and companies like Disney should denounce anti-Black and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation wherever it occurs, not fund it.
Join us in demanding that Disney stop funding hate bills and direct their political giving to candidates committed to making our country a more loving and inclusive place.
Until justice is real,
Jade Magnus Ogunnaike
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