Ron DeSantis signed legislation Monday that bans Florida teachers from discussing LGBTQ topics like sexual orientation or gender identity with students unless they’re in the fourth grade or higher.ĭisney has denounced the new law and vowed to fight to repeal it.ĭeSantis says Disney ‘crossed the line’ with criticism of Fla. The new push aimed at inclusivity comes as Florida Gov. “We no longer say ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls,” Ware continued. ©Walt Disney Co./courtesy Evereĭisney is now in the process of changing recorded messages in parks to match the inclusivity push, Ware said. “So, we no longer say ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls … It’s hello everyone or hello friends.” Disney’s diversity plan comes amid the controversy over Florida’s new “Don’t Say Gay” law. “Last summer we removed all gendered greetings in relationship to our live spiels,” Disney diversity and inclusion manager Vivian Ware said on the call. 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.”ĭuring the same call Monday, another Disney employee noted how the company has also eliminated the use of gendered pronouns throughout its theme parks last summer as part of its inclusivity efforts. “And I went, ‘What? That can’t be true,’” Burke said. Disney has reportedly reinstated a gay kiss in its upcoming “Toy Story” spinoff, “Lightyear.” Disney/ Pixar The Disney honcho said she had been dismayed to learn from a colleague that the company only had a “handful” of queer lead characters in its content. The call was part of Disney’s “Reimagine Tomorrow” campaign, according to the video posted on Twitter Tuesday. Its website promises that 50 percent of regular and recurring characters across the Disney universe will come from “underrepresented groups.” “One transgender child and one pansexual child, and also as a leader.”īurke said she supports featuring “many, many” characters who are LGBTQIA, which stands for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer (or questioning), intersex, and asexual (or allies). “I’m here as a mother of two queer children, actually,” Burke said on the call.
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