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“The ongoing attempts to placate the LGBTQIA+ community with subpar representation in the content produced and donations to well-meaning organizations are simply not enough,” the letter reads.
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While the people behind the Disney Do Better Walkout understand the power of representation, they similarly understand that seeing one’s self on-screen is not the solution to this particular kind of pressing issue.
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Just days after Chapek’s email, though, Pixar’s employees pointed out how commonplace it is for queerness to be edited out during the production process on the studio’s projects - so much so that it often feels like outright anti-gay censorship. Teachers would similarly be barred from broaching the topics with older students unless the subject matter is deemed “age-appropriate” or “developmentally appropriate” in ways that the bill does not specify.Ĭhapek, as the open letter points out, originally suggested that one good way for Disney to respond to real-world homophobic legislation would be to continue to tell and sell stories about fictional queer characters. The “Don’t Say Gay” bill effectively makes it illegal for educators who teach kindergarten through 3rd grade to at all discuss queerness or queer people with their students, even though the concepts of sexual and gender identity are not actually taught at that level. “You cannot fix this with educational seminars or token background characters - even organizations like HRC refuse your money until action is taken.” “Those statements have indicated that leadership still does not truly understand the impact this legislation is having not only on Cast Members in the state of Florida, but on all members of the LGBTQIA+ community in the company and beyond,” the letter reads. In an open letter published to, a website created by a number of the staffers who organized the Disney Do Better Walkout, the employees expressed their appreciation for Chapek’s apology but took to task how Disney has “ utterly failed to match the magnitude of the threat to LGBTQIA+ safety represented by this legislation.” (Emphasis theirs.) In response to Disney’s actions and Chapek’s emails, a number of Disney employees are now planning to stage a week of virtual 15-minutes walkouts beginning this afternoon, culminating in a day-long walkout on March 22nd. In the eyes of many of Disney’s queer employees, those steps are simply not enough, and now they’re taking action to make that point as clear as they can to the company’s leadership. In the days since The Walt Disney Company first came under fire for giving money to the politicians behind Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, CEO Bob Chapek has apologized for initially having nothing to say, and he subsequently announced the corporation’s plans to “pause” its political donations in Florida for an undetermined amount of time.