Disney: Just Say Gay — Poster of the Week
Boycott Disney Corporation
Olin Tezcatlipoca
Mexica Movement
Digital Print, 2007
Los Angeles, CA
28093
This week, Walt Disney Co. employees, from Florida to California, walked off their jobs to protest Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s tepid response to Florida's Parental Rights in Education bill. As the word “gay” is not mentioned once in the bill, it is referred to as the "Don't Say Gay" bill by LGBTQ+ activists. The bill will bar discussion on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade.
Not only is Disney the largest employer in Florida, but Disney has also given campaign money to every sponsor and co-sponsor of this bill. Its employees thus have a right—indeed, an obligation—to speak out against the homophobia expressed in the bill.
Union leaders for the tens of thousands of unionized workers at Disney theme parks in Florida and California advised against the walkout as it would go against contractual obligations. Although the turnout was small, protesters claimed victory as the company agreed to withhold further contributions to anyone supporting the bill.
CSPG’s Poster-of-the-Week was produced 16 years before the current controversy. But it too protests Disney’s silence in the face of discriminatory programming it supported.
In 2006, The Mexica Movement, an Indigenous Rights Educational Organization based in Southern California, called for an international boycott against The Walt Disney Company and all of its holdings because Disney employed talk show hosts Paul Harvey and Doug McIntyre, who promoted a white supremacist agenda against the Mexican and Central American communities in the US.
When Doug McIntyre repeatedly disparaged on air an Indigenous Mexican public charter school located in East LA—the K-8 school subsequently received a bomb threat—Disney failed to reprimand or discipline him. When Paul Harvey boasted of the European genocide against Indigenous People, Disney failed to reprimand or discipline him.
Meanwhile, back in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis is poised to sign the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Three weeks ago, DeSantis publicly ridiculed local high school students for wearing masks. This is not someone to trust with the emotional or physical well-being of our students. Why is it that white supremacy, homophobia, sexism, xenophobia, and other discriminatory beliefs, always seem to show up in the same people?
Sources:
https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-03-08/on-floridas-dont-say-gay-bill-disney
https://www.newsmax.com/fastfeatures/employers-in-florida-companies/2015/03/03/id/628054/
https://nypost.com/2022/03/02/desantis-tells-high-school-students-to-toss-their-ridiculous-masks/
https://www.thedailybeast.com/desperate-deranged-ron-desantis-devolves-into-dumb-troll
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2007-apr-19-me-talkradio19-story.html