In a blistering letter to Disney management, a group of Pixar’s LGBTQ+ employees and allies slammed the company’s lack of action to oppose a hateful new Florida law dubbed the “don’t say gay”Bill and charged the company with constantly censoring LGBTQ content.
The law, which was adopted Tuesday and Florida Gov. must sign it. Ron DeSantisThis law prevents elementary school teachers even from acknowledging the existence gay people. It is partially enforced by allowing parents and guardians to sue schools they feel have violated it.
The Pixar employee letter, which is undated, was made public hours after Disney CEO Bob Chapek claimed during the company’s quarterly shareholder meeting that the company had attempted behind the scenes to oppose the law — though of course it refused to take a public position on it even as the law appeared likely to pass.
“We hoped that our company would show up for us. But it didn’t,”The letter First publishedJudd Legum is a journalist.
When defended the company’s refusal to condemn the law earlier this week, Chapek said “I and the entire leadership team unequivocally stand in support of our LGBTQ+ employees,”Also, that “the best way for our company to bring about lasting change is through the inspiring content we produce, the welcoming culture we create, and the diverse community organizations we support.”
The Pixar employee statement claims that the company did the exact opposite. “We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were. Even if creating LGBTQIA+ content was the answer to fixing the discriminatory legislation in the world, we are being barred from creating it,”The group stated.
The letter is addressed to Disney leaders “to immediately withdraw all financial support from the legislators behind the ‘don’t say gay’ bill, to fully denounce this legislation publicly, and to make amends for its financial involvement.”
The letter also criticizes the company’s inability to take responsibility. “a hard stance in support of of the LGBTQIA+ community,”They say it because they believe it “attempted to placate ‘both sides’ — and did not condemn hateful messages shared during the question and answer portion of [Wednesday’s stockholder] meeting.”
“This is not what it means to ‘unequivocally stand in support of our LGBTQ+ employees, their families, and their communities,”The letter stated.
Representatives for Disney didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from .
Disney CEO Bob Chapek Met With Florida Governor Ron DeSantis Over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ Bill; DeSantis Didn’t Change His Mind
First ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Trailer Debuts for Upcoming Disney+ Series (Video)
The Untold Story of Disney’s $307 Million Bomb, ‘John Carter’: It’s a Disaster