Op-ed views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.
A culture war has been brewing in this country for decades. But in the past year, something remarkable has happened. With the pandemic, teachers’ unions refused to go to school, and many parents began to see what their children were being taught—and what they were not being taught.
Yes, Critical Race Theory was exposed as racism. Kids of all ages were told that white people are evil and the United States is hopelessly racist and oppressive. Those who opposed this indoctrination were sometimes bullied, intimidated, and even removed from school board meetings.
But I want to discuss an issue that’s even more disturbing: the left’s obsession with gender identity and sexual behavior, even when it comes to young children. It was referenced thirty years ago by Pat Buchanan at the 1992 Republican National Convention. Here’s a quote.
“This election is about more than who gets what, it is about who we are. It is about what we believe and what we stand for as Americans. There is a religious war going on in this country. It is a culture war that is as critical to the kind of nation we shall be as the cold war itself, for this war is for the soul of America.”
Yes, the culture war speech.
Frankly, as I prepared this article and listened to the entire speech, there were several portions that I heard with different ears than I had then. Personally, some of my views have changed a bit over the years. That’s probably true for most of us. And that can be a good thing because I’m not writing to inflame or to disrespect anyone because we have a different lifestyle or worldview. But neither should my views be disrespected or canceled.
Since that famous speech in 1992, conservatives have been divided when it comes to taking a stand for what they sincerely believe. This includes topics like school choice, religious expression, pornography, same-sex marriage, and gender identity. Many believed the lie that there was not even a culture war.
While we have been divided about the battle, most establishment Republicans flew the white flag. “We don’t want to be divisive and alienate potential voters,” they said. “We can’t alienate soccer moms,” the experts advised. And after all, it’s only “angry white men” getting upset. Cultural and moral issues were considered “losing” stances by the political class in the Republican party. Enter the RINOs—fiscally conservative but socially liberal.
Fast forward to Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis and the Parental Rights in Education legislation. It was deceptively, labeled the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by the left. The bill simply gives parents the right to decide what their children and grandchildren and taught about sexual behaviors and genders in classrooms from kindergarten through third grade.
Governor DeSantis did something we’ve rarely seen in recent decades, with the exception of President Trump, a Donald who never ducked. He stood up to liberal ideology. Not only did he take a stand, he walked up to leftists and confronted them face to face, with a reasoned perspective and clear plan. And when the blowback came, he stood his ground and kept speaking with common sense that appeals to average Americans.
This week an elementary school teacher was interviewed by MSNBC about the legislation and said, “It scares me that I am not going to be able to have these conversations with my children […] I don’t want to have to hide that my partner and I went paddleboarding this weekend.”
Did you notice the term, “my children”?
And because the governor dared to stand up to societal insanity, the left went completely goofy. Astoundingly, the Disney Corporation put its full weight against this legislation. Here’s what the governor recently said about their position.
“For Disney to come out and in a statement and say that the bill should have never passed and they are going to actively work to repeal it, one, is fundamentally dishonest, and two, I think that crossed the line. This state is governed by the interests of the people of the state of Florida, it is not based on the demands of California corporate executives. They do not run this state, they do not control this state.”
Surely the nice folks at Disney were just following the mantra of tolerance, right? Well, this week a news story broke and featured Disney executives discussing what’s happening inside the company. Here’s a quote from their Diversity and Inclusion Manager, Vivan Ware.
“Last summer we removed all the gender greetings in relationship to our live spiels, so we no longer say ladies and gentlemen boys and girls. We’ve provided training for all our cast members in relationship to that so no they know it’s hello everyone or hello friends.” “We don’t want to just assume because someone might be in our interpretation may be presenting as female that they want to be called princess.”
They’re referring to little girls, by the way. I want every human to be treated with respect. And Disney is a private company. They can take any stance they want in the free market. But the idea that saying “boys and girls” is offensive and wrong is quite disturbing to me.
And here’s Disney corporate president, Karey Burke. “I share as a mother of two queer children actually one transgender child and one pansexual child and also as a leader, and that’s a thing that really got me because I heard so much from my colleagues in the past few weeks in open forums and through emails and phone conversations I feel a responsibility to speak, not just for myself but for them.”
She described a recent company forum where, “One of our execs stood up and said you know we only have a handful of queer leads in our content and I went, ‘What? That can’t be true!’ and I realized, ‘Oh, it actually is true.’ We have many many, many LGBTQIA characters in our stories, and yet we don’t have enough leads and narratives in which gay characters just get to be characters and not have to be about gay stories and so that’s been very eye-opening for me.”
An executive producer with Disney Television Animation, Latoya Raveneau said this about Disney’s agenda. “In my little pocket of Proud Family Disney TVA, the showrunners were super welcoming […] to my not-at-all-secret gay agenda […] I felt, that sense of ‘I don’t have to be afraid to have these two characters kiss in the background.'” “I was just, wherever I could, adding queerness, […] No one would stop me, and no one was trying to stop me.”
So, I have a question.
What kind of company makes such a big deal about a law that prevents elementary school teachers from talking about sex and gender with young children?
Many parents do not want their six-year-old asking about sexuality after watching a Disney movie or television series. Children should enjoy pre-puberty without being sexualized by media companies. The fact that the leaders at Disney don’t understand this should be an eye-opener to us.
This is a tremendous opportunity for content developers to do what Disney once did and provide entertainment and educational programming that is safe for families. And what I mean by safe is that we can trust a brand to not create sexualized content for children. Period.
Disney clearly has an agenda for what children are taught. They want to influence what children think about sexual matters, and these corporate parents are buzzed about it. People of this mindset can’t even define what a woman is, as we learned recently. Yet they want to control the narrative and social norms in elementary schools.
It is a lot easier for a family to change their vacation and holiday plans than it is for a grade-school child to change their gender. This also applies to streaming choices.
As I always remind people, and remind myself daily, we can disagree with respect and common-sense arguments. But we must stand up for what we believe.
James Golden, under the pseudonym “Bo Snerdley,” was with The Rush Limbaugh Show for almost thirty years. He speaks and consults on media, broadcasting, and political action. James is the bestselling author of Rush On The Radio, radio host with WABC-AM, and host of several podcasts. JamesGolden.com
- Bo Snerdley: I have questions about Disney Corporation injecting queerness into culture - April 1, 2022
- ‘I miss Rush every day’: Personal reflections of the year without America’s legendary voice - February 17, 2022
- Bo Snerdley: Looking back – Looking forward - December 31, 2021
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