Disney CEO Bob Chapek wrote in a memo sent to employees on Monday that condemning the legislation would hurt the company’s “ability to tell…stories” with LGBTQ+ characters.
after meeting with the company CEO in the wake of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which bans kindergarten through third-grade classrooms from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation at all, and grades four and above from doing so “in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students,” neither of which are defined, no doubt by design.
In a memo sent to employees on Monday—the day before Florida’s state Senate passed the bill, the last hurdle before hitting the governor’s desk—Disney CEOthat condemning the legislation would hurt the company’s “ability to tell…stories” with LGBTQ+ characters. According to Chapek, the most effective way for Disney to achieve change is through “inspiring content” like, and that this content means the company doesn’t have to say anything about the bill.
As for the monetary donations the company has made to lawmakers who support the bill, which Popular Informationhas been $197,126 over the last two years, Chapek noted that “we have contributed to both Republican and Democrat legislators,” as though donating to Democrats cancels out donating to lawmakers who want to make life more painful for LGBTQ+ people.