News broke today at Disney’s annual AGM (held virtually) when CEO Bob Chapek revealed that he reached out directly in a call to Governor Ron DeSantis to express Disney’s “… disappointment and concern that if the legislation becomes law, it could be used to target [LGBTQ+) kids and families. The governor heard our concerns. He agreed to meet with me and LGBTQ+ members of our senior team in Florida to discuss ways to address that.”
Over the past week, AHF spearheaded protests targeting Disney in Orlando and Burbank, CA with hundreds of LGBTQ+ advocates and supporters. AHF also produced a TV spot urging Disney to speak out publicly and loudly to oppose the legislation. . AHF’s 30-second spot is running on Orlando stations WOFL (FOX), WKMG (CBS), WESH (NBC) and WFTV (ABC). However, the TV spot was rejected or censored by the Disney-owned KABC-TV7 in Los Angeles.
“This is clearly a step in the right direction, and we commend Mr. Chapek for finally speaking out against Don’t Say Gay” directly to and with Governor DeSantis,” said Mike Kahane, AHF Southern Bureau Chief. “That said, it took a huge amount of public pressure to get Disney to act. We will be watching and urge Governor DeSantis to NOT sign this hateful and discriminatory legislation.”
