Disney’s Reimagine Tomorrow Leak Reignites More Controversy in Wake of Florida HB 1557

Another day, another Disney political drama. This time, Disney’s Reimagine Tomorrow diversity and inclusion initiative is being thrown into the mix after Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed a controversial bill into law.

Disney has put itself directly in the crosshairs of a heated political battle over Florida HB 1557 — a bill that’s called the “Parental Rights in Education” bill or the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, depending on who you ask.

Disney has been donating to politicians on both sides of the aisle for decades — predating Bob Chapek’s short tenure as CEO. The sponsor of HB 1557, Senator Dennis Baxley (R), had received part of Disney’s $250,000 donation to Republicans who backed the bill.

A few weeks ago, Disney CEO Bob Chapek seemed to indicate he wanted Disney to take an apolitical stance by pausing all political donations in Florida. That lead to backlash from Disney employees and the media, which in turn lead to Chapek issuing a full-throated apology.

After the bill was signed by DeSantis, the Walt Disney Company put out a statement that they would do everything in their power to repeal the bill. Though, it’s unclear just what exactly Disney can do aside from donating to activist organizations opposed to the bill.

Critics of the bill say that the vagueness of the language could open up LGBTQ teachers to litigation, while proponents claim the bill empowers parents to have control over what their grade schoolers are being taught about gender and sexuality in grades K-3.

Now the already controversial Reimagine Tomorrow initiative is throwing kerosene on the fire, with journalist Christopher F. Rufo posting leaks from an internal discussion amongst Disney employees.

While the sound bites were seemingly cherry-picked, it’s pretty obvious which side of the political aisle most Disney brass are on and what direction the company as a whole is headed.

Some of the clips address the decision to remove the iconic “ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls” from fireworks announcements in order to be more “gender inclusive.”

SCOOP: Disney diversity and inclusion manager Vivian Ware says the company has eliminated all mentions of "ladies," "gentlemen," "boys," and "girls" in its theme parks in order to create "that magical moment" for children who do not identify with traditional gender roles. pic.twitter.com/OWsGTUoeCA

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022

One of the clips being circulated the most is of President of Disney’s General Entertainment, Karey Burke, allegedly reiterating that 50% of Disney’s characters going forward will be LGBTIA+ or other minorities.

SCOOP: Disney corporate president Karey Burke says, "as the mother [of] one transgender child and one pansexual child," she supports having "many, many, many LGBTQIA characters in our stories" and wants a minimum of 50 percent of characters to be LGBTQIA and racial minorities. pic.twitter.com/oFRUiuu9JG

— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022

Burke also stated that she would like to see “gay characters” be “just get to be characters” and “not have to be about gay stories.”

(It’s curious that she mentions all the LGBTQIA characters in Disney stories, while Disney has reportedly put the kibosh on explicitly queer characters for China and Russia. Apparently I’m not the only one who is confused by this statement.)

The leaks are getting a lot of traction on social media, and have been discussed on Fox News.

.@GovRonDeSantis Reacts To Video Obtained By @realchrisrufo Of Disney Corporate President Karey Burke Saying She Supports More LGBTQIA Characters In Their Stories pic.twitter.com/CJg76DVCdE

— The Columbia Bugle 🇺🇸 (@ColumbiaBugle) March 30, 2022

It’s clear that this political battle is far from over, and given Walt Disney World is based in (predominately) conservative Florida, one has to wonder what kind of collateral financial damage there could be to the Parks’ bottom line should there be backlash from Florida families.

One also has to wonder about Disney’s own conservative Florida employees, who’ve also voiced concern via an open letter to the company that they are not allowed to express any contrary opinions for fear of losing their jobs.

Or, Disney could pull a Disney move and give lip service to social causes to appease employees, the media and Twitter, then wave that giant white glove and make everyone’s memories of it just… disappear.

[Source: Twitter]