GOP lawmakers in Florida blast ‘woke’ Disney for becoming ‘activist machine,’ talk of consequences

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GOP politicians in Florida are implying that the Disney corporation might lose tourist dollars for opposing the “Parental Rights in Education” bill passed by the state legislature and that awaits the imminent signature of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

“In interviews with Fox News Digital, several Republicans lawmakers said Disney has become too ‘woke’ in their opposition to legislation that bars instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade. Critics have dubbed the effort the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill,” Fox Business reported.

Last week, some Disney employees staged a highly publicized walkout to protest the bill.

Bob Chapek, the multinational entertainment and media conglomerate’s CEO apologized to staff for not being a “stronger ally” in condemning the legislation.

Parenthetically, despite its stated concerns for social justice, Disney does lucrative business in China despite the CCP’s rampant human rights abuses.

According to U.S. Rep. Greg Steube, who represents a district in the Fort Myers area, “Disney has turned their family-friendly company into an activist machine that perpetuates a whole agenda of left-wing propaganda. What they’re doing is incredibly dangerous as their company is mainly marketed towards families and children. Even their employees have noted Disney doesn’t have room for religious or political conservatives. I hope folks remember that when choosing where to spend their hard-earned vacation funds.”

The congressman was alluding to a 1000-word, open letter from conservative-leaning staff who wrote, in part, that the company should stay politically neutral and that “Left-leaning cast members are free to promote their agenda and organize on company time using company resources. They call their fellow employees ‘bigots’ and pressure TWDC to use corporate influence to further their left-wing legislative goals.”

As the GOP governor himself has said, “If you are out protesting this bill, you are by definition putting yourself in favor of injecting sexual instruction to 5, 6, and 7-year-old kids. I think most people think that’s wrong. I think parents, especially think that’s wrong.”

Economic boycotts have traditionally been part of the progressive toolkit. It’s does seem unlikely that woke Disney, given its massive market share, could go “broke” in any meaningful way at the Magic Kingdom or elsewhere, although other organizations have backpedaled on activism when non-woke consumers made their feelings known.

According to southeastern Fla. U.S. Rep. Brian Mast, who called out corporate America for its arrogance, “There’s a real conviction to actually boycott companies that try to cancel you on the conservative side,” which may impact Walt Disney World in Orlando.

The Disney+ streaming service currently has approximately 100 million subscribers around the globe.

Added U.S. Rep. Carlos Gimenez who represents the Miami area in Congress, “In Florida, we are standing up for our parents and families. Maybe it’s time for Disney to rediscover its core values and quit trying to appease the woke left.”

On Friday, Gov. DeSantis signed a curriculum transparency bill into law gives parents, among other things, the right to review all instructional materials each teacher intends to use. The legislation also imposes term limits of 12 years on school board members.

“I think it’s going to help give parents a lot of confidence that they can send their kids to school and they’ll get an education but they’re not necessarily going to be indoctrinated in things that are very, very questionable,” DeSantis asserted, the Miami Herald reported.

The phenomenon of stubborn school boards who are unresponsive to concerned parents primarily emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Many of these board members seem to believe that they are more informed than future school board members, i.e., those grassroots moms and dads who intend to replace them when the incumbents come up for reelection (assuming, in some jurisdictions, they aren’t recalled or decide to step down in the meantime).

DeSantis has indicated that he intends to get “involved” in upcoming school board elections in Florida, the Herald added.

Conventional wisdom held that campus activists and other like-minded progressives would need to go through an attitude adjustment when they took corporate jobs in the real world.

Perhaps paying disproportionate attention to woke Twitter rather than their actual customer base, it has turned out, however, that, in general, just the opposite has occurred. The business community often quickly succumbs to both internal and external far-left pressure in the context of hot-button political and social issues.

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