As the war between Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and Disney World shifts to the court system in a series of lawsuits, DeSantis sat down with Newsmax for an interview that touched on the Disney skirmish.
While there are plenty of things that Disney and DeSantis will fight over in court, one thing is clear: this was all started by Disney’s opposition to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Disney clearly states their opposition as the firestarter for the conflict, and DeSantis acknowledges it in the interview, saying that “the big issue with Disney was they exercised a lot of political influence in this town and they tried to fight us on things like parents rights…we beat them on that”.
While DeSantis was talking about how his legislature was able to pass the “Don’t Say Gay” bill last year, he talked about how the bill has been expanded upon in this past legislative session – just like critics of the bill said would happen when the first version of the “Don’t Say Gay” bill was signed into law last year. DeSantis was happy that he has effectively silenced Disney and said that the Company was no longer expressing its First Amendment rights. DeSantis said “since our skirmish last year, Disney has not been involved in any of those issues – they have not made a peep. That, ultimately, is the most important – that Disney is not allowed to pervert the system to the detriment of Floridians”.
DeSantis notes that the actual law that gave the State control over the Reedy Creek Improvement District passed this year, but the Governor and his rubber-stamp legislature were threatening Disney as early as April 19, 2022 with the official filing of SB 4-C which said that Independent Special Districts that were established before November 5, 1968 would be dissolved effective June 1, 2023. The Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID) was created May 12, 1967 via legislation signed by Governor Claude Kirk.
With RCID sunsetting June 1, 2023, DeSantis and his legislature quickly learned that the $1 billion of bonds would be passed down to the local counties and the citizens. To avoid that, DeSantis and his legislature created HB 9-B, which essentially reestablished the RCID under a new name and new Board of Supervisors. The RCID would be renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD) and the Board of Supervisors would be comprised of five individuals hand-selected by DeSantis.
Throughout the legislative session, which ended yesterday, Florida lawmakers passed increasingly intrusive bills that critics say are an attack on the LGBTQ+ community. DeSantis is correct in saying that Disney has not publicly spoken out about these bills. While its absolutely true that former Disney CEO Bob Chapek fumbled the response to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Disney did eventually provide the following statement:
Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law. Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that. We are dedicated to standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country.
In an April 3, 2023 shareholder meeting, now Disney CEO Bob Iger acknowledged that he hasn’t spoken out much on the issue of “woke ideologies”. Iger noted that the “company may have not handled the position that it took very well”, but said that “a company has a right to freedom of speech just like individuals do”. That said, the Company has not spoken out against the ever-expanding reach of DeSantis’ government into the personal lives of Floridians and even Disney World Cast Members.
Ron DeSantis called Disney’s silence “a win for the people of Florida”. DeSantis said that he has not spoken with Disney CEO Bob Iger. Iger said he would be “glad to” talk with DeSantis in an April interview with Time.
There are a couple of lawsuits on the issue of Disney vs DeSantis. A lawsuit from Disney World claims that DeSantis has used the government to retaliate against the Company for exercising its First Amendment rights. A separate lawsuit from the CFTOD against Disney World asks to court to declare a Development Agreement between Disney World and the District as null and void.
As always, keep checking back with us here at BlogMickey.com as we continue to bring you the latest news, photos, and info from around the Disney Parks!
King Ron DeFascist has spoken. He has turned The Magic
Kingdom into a not so magical place all just because he is
a Fascist running for President. It will all be in vain, because the whole country doesn’t want to have a dictator
as president. He will lose his ass, and hopefully his governor ship. We need some more democrats to run against the republican legislature and bring back our freedoms to Florida. Pretty soon the people will start to realize that the emperor has no clothes.
Florida: Where Freedom Goes To Die
Thank you again for writing about this in a reasonable, sane, compassionate way that acknowledges reality. So many of the blogs are failing on this topic miserably.
What has these people done to desantis? Or anybody ?Nothin! They’ve done nothing to bother anyone! Why is he so focused on obliterating these people’s rights?the whole GOP have had this fascist dream since the Reagan admin. They’ve lived along side of LGBTQ people their whole lives! What’s the difference now? There has never been any indoctrination, grooming etc. If that’s what the rainbow community does, why didn’t our leaders put a stop to it years ago? If they are claiming this as facts and they seem to be,and are just dealing with it now, I believe I’m going to sue them for knowing this went on and doing nothing about it! They can’t have it both ways. It can’t be facts for a short period during their agenda and not have it been facts all these years prior. Which means they’ve known and let it go on it’s disgraceful!!hey are guilty too! We need to confront this! Seriously they are hurting innocent people with these facts..I say take it all the way…
Why doesn’t anyone ever mention that Disney financially supported the republican politicians that put together the “Don’t Say Gay” bill? Everyone was completely fine with Disney “getting into politics” then. I hope they never donate in support of another politician ever again!
Newsmax, now there’s a legit outlet.