In Florida, a law was passed in March banning schools from dealing with sexual and gender minorities with children. Florida’s biggest employer was too quiet for fans.
The gap between the state of Florida and entertainment giant Disney has cooled to freezing this year.
In April, the Republican Congress of Florida, ruled by the Republican Party, decided to abolish a special tax zone that allowed Disney to effectively control taxes, for example, by imposing an area of about 100 square miles. The Orlando area includes Disney World.
The abolition of the tax zone is a huge financial loss for Disney – and that is probably the purpose of the state decision.
Behind the dispute between Disney and Florida is a recently enacted law in Florida that prohibits talking about sexual and gender minorities as part of schooling from kindergarten to third grade. Parents have the right to sue the school if the teaching does not comply with the new law.
In addition, the law requires schools to tell parents if a child uses school mental health services. In this way, parents get to know if the child is discussing sexual identity issues with a nurse, for example.
Republican Governor of Florida Ron DeSantis approved the law on March 28 and is due to enter into force in July.
Already in February, the President of the United States took a public position on the law Joe Biden on the same day (switch to another service)that young people from the LBGTQI +, ie sexual and gender minorities, such as transgender people and homosexuals, deserve to be recognized and accepted just as they are, and that work is continuing.
Disney remained silent for a long time
Florida’s largest private employer is entertainment giant The Walt Disney Company, which owns Walt Disney World Resort, the world’s largest theme park complex in Orlando. The company employs nearly 80,000 people in Florida alone.
When the bill was introduced in January and a public debate began, Disney was expected to participate. The company says it is openly working for gender equality, diversity and sexual and gender minorities, among other things.
In the beginning of March Walt Disney brother and partner Roy Disney daughter Abigail Disney comments on the silence of the Disney company On Twitter, in a nutshell (you’re switching to another service). Disney criticizes, among other things, the fact that the company is funding those who are taking the bill forward. He says Disney will keep quiet just because the company’s business wouldn’t suffer.
– I’m furious that Disney thinks he can just look away. The blindness to the funding of law-abiding people requires a truly flawed moral compass and does nothing but support their disgusting agenda, Disney wrote.
Disappointed were also Disney fans around the world and Disney’s own employees who spoke out on social media and raised the issue in their workplace.
“We are dedicated to defending LGBTQ + people both in our Disney family and throughout the community in Florida and across the country,” Disney declared.
A huge advantage was lost
When Disney was rescued as an entertainment giant and an employer, it ruined the Florida administration. Among other things The Guardian quotes (move to another service) Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who signed the new law, wrote in a campaign email about Disney:
– If Disney wants to choose their fight, they chose the wrong man. As governor, I have been elected to put the people of Florida ahead of everything, and I will not allow a company engaged in woke culture to rule this state, DeSantis wrote according to the magazine.
The latest major transfer in the state in the dispute is the abolition of the Disney tax territory.
The special tax regime has been in place for more than 50 years. Thanks to the arrangement, Disney gets According to The New York Times (moving to another service) to plan and implement changes in the structure and buildings of the area independently, to generate its own electricity and to impose taxes on the organization of the area’s own fire brigade and first aid. The area itself is also responsible for, among other things, road maintenance and water supply.
It is not yet clear how the decision will affect Disney’s finances, but it is likely to significantly tighten taxation on both Disney and residents of the company-managed area. According to information obtained by The New York Times, Disney saved millions of dollars through the arrangement.
Disney has so far not commented on the loss of the arrangement.