Walt Disney World is reportedly planning to host the “largest LGBTQ+” conference in the world this upcoming September, and for some bizarre reason, the media is portraying this as some sort of broad stroke against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
For example: “[T]he ‘largest LGBT+ conference in the world’ will be hosted at Walt Disney World in central Florida, in direct defiance of DeSantis’ crusade to punish the company for its pro-LGBT stances,” The Daily Beast reported.
But the governor has never sought to “punish” Disney for being pro-LGBT. He did, however, seek to discipline the company after it interfered last year in the passage and signing of the Parental Rights in Education Act.
As previously reported, the bill simply prohibits teachers from exposing children in third grade and younger to sexual concepts beyond their age range.
This fact hasn’t stopped Democrat activists from seizing on this false framing and using it to attack DeSantis themselves:
BREAKING: Disney boldly fight back against bigot Gov. Ron DeSantis by hosting the “largest LGBT+ conference in the world” in central Florida — outraging the Republican Party and directly hitting back against the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. RT IF YOU STAND WITH DISNEY AGAINST DESANTIS!
— Occupy Democrats (@OccupyDemocrats) March 22, 2023
If you love that Disney is boldly fighting back against bigot Gov. Ron DeSantis by announcing the “largest LGBT+ conference in the world” in central Florida — outraging the Republican Party and directly hitting back against the “Don’t Say Gay” bill — retweet and follow us!
— Occupy Democrats (@OccupyDemocrats) March 22, 2023
That said, The Daily Beast isn’t alone in framing Disney’s conference as a slapdown of DeSantis. So has the Miami Herald.
“The Walt Disney Company will host a major conference promoting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights in the workplace in Central Florida this September, gathering executives and professionals from the world’s largest companies in a defiant display of the limits of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ campaign against diversity training,” the paper reported.
Say what? While it’s true the governor has pushed for bans against so-called “diversity training,” it’s not clear what that has to do with Disney’s upcoming conference.
Also, the bans against “diversity training” were pushed by DeSantis because said training often involved demeaning certain races (usually whites and Asians) while propping up others (usually blacks and Hispanics).
Meanwhile, here’s what Inside the Magic, “the world’s largest website for” Disney fans, reported: “You might be able to take over Disney’s Reedy Creek, DeSantis, but you can’t stop the pro-LGBTQ convention coming to the Walt Disney World Resort this September.”
Plenty of so-called “journalists” and activists on Twitter have also spread the lies.
“Mickey flips a furry little finger at Red Tide Ronnie,” self-identified “journalist” Carl Hiassen tweeted.
“Disney is openly defying Ron DeSantis, announcing they are hosting the world’s largest LGBTQ conference in Florida,” left-wing podcaster Brian Tyler Cohen tweeted.
“Props to Disney for flashing Herr Reichsfürher DeSantis a middle finger bigger than the Orlando property itself,” self-identified “freelance writer “Henry Schulman tweeted.
The examples go on for days.
The irony is that Rep. Randy Fine, the local Republican responsible for some of the anti-Disney legislation signed by DeSantis last year, has no problems with the conference.
“I’m not willing to interpret it as some grand conspiracy to stick it in the eye of the state of Florida. Disney is part of the fabric of the Florida economy. … If they weren’t holding any conferences at Disney World, that would be news because that would be a big problem,” he told the Herald.
Plus, the thing is that the conference — the Out & Equal Workplace Summit — has been held at Disney World plenty of times in years past:
This is framed as some sort of “gotcha” but the Out & Equal Workplace Summit has been hosted at WDW multiple times – in 2002, 2016 and probably more years I’ve missed. WDW has also hosted far-right groups that probably want me dead. https://t.co/8RQZxl1MO2
— Matthew Gottula ️ (@DLthings) March 22, 2023
The organization actually behind it is known as Out & Equal, and according to the Herald, Disney is one of its most generous sponsors, though certainly not the only one.
“Dozens of iconic American companies — including Apple, McDonald’s, Uber, Walmart, Hilton, Amazon, Boeing, Cracker Barrel and John Deere — are sponsoring the Out & Equal Workplace summit, which over 5,000 people are expected to attend. Several agencies, including the State Department and the CIA, are listed as government partners and will have booths at the conference,” the Miami Herald noted.
The conference/summit will reportedly be held at The Walt Disney World Resort from Sept. 11th to Sept. 14th.
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