ORLANDO, Fla. (WFLA) — A group of people claiming to be “LGBTQIA+ workers and allies at The Walt Disney Company” are planning walkouts this week and next to protest what they say is their company’s lack of action in stopping Florida’s ‘Parental Rights in Education’ legislation, dubbed by critics the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.
On Monday evening, a newly-formed Twitter account named @DisneyWalkout posted a two-page letter outlining their complaints.
They state in their initial tweet the company leadership’s response thus far has “utterly failed to match the magnitude of the threat to LGBTQIA+ safety represented by this legislation.”
In the letter, they also call for a permanent stop on “all donations to all politicians involved in the creation or passage of the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.”
That includes Gov. Ron DeSantis and all Republican state senators who voted for the bill, including those who represent districts in the Tampa Bay area: Fla. Sens. Ben Albritton, Jim Boyd, Danny Burgess, Joe Gruters, Kelli Stargel, and Florida Senate President Wilton Simpson.
Republican State Senator Jeffrey Brandes of St. Petersburg was not singled out in the letter.
Brandes twice introduced amendments that would have broadened the language to ban “human sexuality and sexual activity,” the latter effort specifying “sexual orientation and gender identity” would be included in the ban.
Both amendments from Brandes, and all others proposed by Democrats in both the House and Senate, were rejected by Republicans. Last week, after the bill passed, the Miami Herald reported Disney was working behind the scenes with Brandes on that amendment.
The walkouts come as POLITICO/Morning Consult released a new poll Wednesday showing 51% of Americans polled support “banning the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade,” compared to 34% who oppose.
The poll results are starkly different than other recent polls on the so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill. Compared to the others, it samples three times as many voters and asks questions that are much more specific.
The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll asked whether respondents supported three different parts of the legislation, after noting that the bill had already passed and specifically describing its language:
As you may know, the Florida legislature has passed a bill – labeled by opponents as the ’Don’t Say Gay’ bill – limiting the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity to Florida school students. Some say that limiting these discussions will protect children from inappropriate classroom topics, while others say it will block important conversations about LGBTQ issues. To what extent do you support or oppose the following items in the bill?
1. Banning the teaching of sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten through third grade
2. Limiting lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity after third grade to ’age appropriate’ discussions
3. Allowing parents to sue school districts over alleged violations of sexual orientation and gender identity discussions in schools
Poll respondents also supported by 52% to 33% “limiting lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity after third grade to ’age appropriate’ discussions,” while slightly opposing (43% to 41%) allowing parents to sue school districts over “alleged violations” of those discussions.
The POLITICO/Morning Consult poll surveyed 2,005 registered voters, 43% Democrat and 42% Republican, from March 11-14 with a margin of error of 2%. Poll respondents were weighted to the South (37%), voted in 2016 for Trump (38% vs. 34% Clinton) and in 2020 for Biden (47% vs. 43% Trump).
An ABC News/Ipsos poll released Sunday showed 62% of Americans polled would “oppose legislation that would prohibit classroom lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school.”
That poll surveyed 622 adults age 18 or older from March 11-12 “with an oversample among LGBTQ+ respondents and a margin of error of 4.4%.
A UNF poll last month showed 49% of Floridians polled disapproved (40% approved) of a bill that “would prohibit school districts from encouraging discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity in grades K-5, or in a way that is age or developmentally inappropriate.”
That poll surveyed 685 registered Florida voters from February 7-20 with a margin of error of 3.74%.