Florida Gov. DeSantis, Disney butting heads on LGBTQ issue

A search is underway for a Florida mom who mysteriously vanished hours after sending a cryptic text message to her father following a custody exchange with her child’s dad.

Republican Governor Ron DeSantis is the leading defendant in a massive 80-page lawsuit by Equality Florida against the “Don’t Say Gay” law he signed this week. Roberta Kaplan, one of the nation’s top civil rights lawyers, who successfully argued the Supreme Court case that effectively overturned the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA),  is the lead attorney on the case.“Florida House Bill 1557 (widely known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law) is an unlawful attempt to stigmatize, silence, and erase LGBTQ people in Florida’s public schools.

apologized and announced a pause in political donations in Florida. On Monday, Disney reacted to the law’s passage by stating that Florida HB 1557 “should never have passed and should never have been signed into law” and would be working with other organizations to get it repealed.“We are dedicated to standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the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,” a Disney spokesperson said.In a Tuesday news conference, DeSantis said that Disney had “crossed the line” with its criticism of the state government.“For Disney to come out and put a statement and say that the bill should have never passed and that they are going to actively work to repeal it,” he said, “I think one was fundamentally dishonest, but two I think that crossed the line.”#BREAKING: Gov.

Disney has issued a statement following the signing of Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has signed the controversial Parental Rights in Education bill, also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, into law.

all sexually-related or “age-inappropriate” topics from being broached in primary grade classrooms. But Republicans rejected the amendment, choosing to ban only LGBTQ-specific content. LGBTQ advocates also argue that, in enforcing the bill, teachers will send an implicit message to LGBTQ-identifying students that they have no supportive allies and should closet themselves, which may lead some youth to contemplate suicide due to feelings of isolation or depression.DeSantis, who has been roundly criticized for his support of the bill, slammed LGBTQ advocates and Hollywood elites — who mocked the bill and Florida at the most recent Academy Awards on Sunday — for attacking him, saying: “If the people who held up degenerates like Harvey Weinstein as exemplars and as heroes and as all that, if those are the types of people that are opposing us on parents’ rights, I wear that like a badge of honor.“They don’t want to admit that they support a lot of the things that we’re providing protections against,” he said, according to Fox News.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis on Monday signed a new law that bans instruction of gender identity and sexual orientation for public school children from Kindergarten to the third grade, drawing condemnation from one of the state’s largest employers, The Walt Disney Co.

Ethan Shanfeld As Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill into law on Monday, The Walt Disney Company issued a statement vowing to help repeal the controversial legislation.“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,” the statement reads.

Academy Awards in Los Angeles came in the opening monologue, when Wanda Sykes — one of the trio of hosts for the show — took a thinly veiled jab at Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill that passed a Republican-controlled state legislature earlier this month.“We’re going to have a great night tonight,” said the openly gay Sykes. “And for you people in Florida, we’re going to have a gay night.”She and fellow hosts Amy Schumer and Regina Hall then repeated the word “gay" multiple times, as many in the crowd such as Denzel Washington and Nicole Kidman smiled and applauded in delight.The bill, which passed earlier this month and has been staunchly defended by Gov.

Oscar Isaac may be in the midst of promoting a new Disney series, but that doesn’t mean he’ll hold back criticism of the company’s corporate response to Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

Pixar’s forthcoming Toy Story prequel Lightyear has put a same-sex kiss back following an internal backlash to Disney’s handling of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

The WGA West is calling on Hollywood to reconsider filming in Florida if Gov. Ron DeSantis signs the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill passed by the state’s legislature last week.

actively censor depictions of, or references to, same-sex affection in films despite touting itself as an LGBTQ-affirming place to work.CEO Bob Chapek initially defended the decision, claiming that the company “unequivocally” stands with its LGBTQ employees in the wake of the bill’s passage but saying he feared that taking a firmer position on the bill could backfire if any statements were “weaponized” by either proponents or opponents of the bill.But following backlash, both internally and externally, Chapek apologized for the company’s silence, saying in a statement sent to employees that he was sorry for the pain caused by Disney’s inaction.“Speaking to you, reading your messages, and meeting with you have helped me better understand how painful our silence was,” Chapek said in the statement. “It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida, but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights.

A bill has been introduced in the Georgia senate that resembles Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

Walt Disney Company Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek issued a memo to the company’s LGBTQ+ and ally employees apologizing over his handling of the controversy over the media conglomerate’s response to Florida HB 1557, colloquially known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer civil rights organization, said today it will not accept any funding from the Walt Disney Co. without a greater commitment to the LGBTQ+ agenda.

awaits signature by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, prevents elementary school teachers from even acknowledging the existence of gay people, and is partly enforced by allowing parents to sue any school they believe has violated it.The Pixar employee letter, which is undated, was made public hours after Disney CEO Bob Chapek claimed during a 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.

Disney‘s Bob Chapek is breaking his silence amid backlash.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDisney CEO Bob Chapek said Wednesday the company is pledging $5 million to the Human Rights Campaign and other organizations protecting LGBTQ rights following backlash to the company’s initial quiet response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, as well as a report that the company has given money to all of the bill’s sponsors. Chapek, who is taking his first public stance against the bill, says he will also be meeting with Republican Gov.