Gov. Ron DeSantis fired back at Disney executives who were seen in leaked videos from a company-wide virtual meeting aggressively pushing an LGBTQ agenda on employees amid passage of Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill.
The Florida Republican told Fox News host Tucker Carlson Tuesday that opposition to the newly signed bill and demands by the progressives at Disney won’t change laws as they “do not run this state. They do not control this state.”
DeSantis reacted after videos were shared on Twitter by journalist Christopher F. Rufo amid Disney’s ongoing battle over the Florida bill incorrectly being trashed by leftists as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
Employees at the “all-hands” meeting heard from several executives of the colossal entertainment company, including a Disney corporate president who said she is the mother of “one transgender child and one pansexual child.”
“For them to say that they as a California-based company are going to work to take those California values and overturn a law that was duly enacted and supported by a strong majority of Floridians – They don’t run this state. They will never run this state as long as I’m governor,” DeSantis vowed on “Tucker Carlson Tonight” Tuesday.
He noted that the recently passed legislation, which does not ban the word “gay” in schools, “is about providing protection” and it “empowers parents. It protects our kids.”
(Video: Fox News)
The leaked videos from the Disney meeting were posted on Twitter following a recent walk-out by some Disney employees protesting the company not taking a stronger stand against the Florida bill, which prohibits classrooms from teaching about sexuality or sexual orientation “in a manner that is not age-appropriate” for children through the third grade.
Disney executive producer Latoya Raveneau talked to employees in one video about “adding queerness” to the company’s shows and productions.
“Our leadership over there has been so welcoming to my not-so-secret gay agenda,” she said. “Wherever I could I was adding queerness. No one would stop me and no one was trying to stop me.”
SCOOP: I’ve obtained video from inside Disney’s all-hands meeting about the Florida parental rights bill, in which executive producer Latoya Raveneau says her team has implemented a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” and is regularly “adding queerness” to children’s programming. pic.twitter.com/eJnZMpKIXT
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022
“I’m here as a mother of two queer children, actually: one transgender child and one pansexual child, and also as a leader,” Disney corporate president Karey Burke said in another leaked video.
“And that was the thing that really got me because I have heard so much from so many of my colleagues over the course of the last couple [of] weeks. In open forums and through emails and phone conversations, I feel a responsibility to speak, not just for myself but for them,” she added.
SCOOP: Disney corporate president Karey Burke says, “as the mother [of] one transgender child and one pansexual child,” she supports having “many, many, many LGBTQIA characters in our stories” and wants a minimum of 50 percent of characters to be LGBTQIA and racial minorities. pic.twitter.com/oFRUiuu9JG
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022
She noted that 20th Century Fox has been “the home of really incredible, groundbreaking LGBTQIA stories over the years” but that hasn’t been enough, citing an “open forum” in which “one of our execs stood up and said, ‘You know, we only had 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,” Burke continued, vowing that she would be more focused on it moving forward.
Rufo included other videos, including one which showed Disney production coordinator Allen March saying his team is committed to “exploring queer stories”
SCOOP: Disney production coordinator Allen March says his team is committed to “exploring queer stories” and has created a “tracker” to make sure they are creating enough “gender nonconforming characters,” “canonical trans characters,” and “canonical bisexual characters.” pic.twitter.com/ddSzw4aqQv
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022
Disney’s diversity and inclusion chief Vivian Ware reminded employees that at the theme parks, guests are no longer addressed as “ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls.”
SCOOP: Disney diversity and inclusion manager Vivian Ware says the company has eliminated all mentions of “ladies,” “gentlemen,” “boys,” and “girls” in its theme parks in order to create “that magical moment” for children who do not identify with traditional gender roles. pic.twitter.com/OWsGTUoeCA
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022
Nadine Smith, the co-founder of Equality Florida, actually claimed the state’s governor wants to “erase you” and “take your kids.”
“They’re just mad that their grift is coming to an end!!!” DeSantis press secretary Christina Pushaw tweeted in response to Rufo’s post.
They’re just mad that their grift is coming to an end!!! https://t.co/vNR6kG59hy
— Christina Pushaw 🇺🇸 (@ChristinaPushaw) March 30, 2022
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