DeSantis Feud Not First Time Disney Employees Pushed Company to Back Them
Disney into a heated fight with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, but the recent feud is not the first time Disney workers have called on the company to defend them.Back in 1995, Disney fielded criticisms related to the company's support for LGBTQ employees after it extended health benefits to the same-sex partners of its employees.In response, conservatives throughout the South attacked Disney for expanding insurances and boycotted the company for promoting what they believed to be a particular agenda.
At the time, the Florida Family Association released a statement accusing Disney of showing "outright disrespect and arrogance in their attitude toward the American family."James O'Rourke, a professor at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business, told Newsweek that the reason the pushback in the 1990s fell by the wayside was that then-Disney Chariman Michael Eisner had spoken out in support of his employees."At the time, Eisner said, 'We're not asking other people to do anything on our behalf or to lead their lives differently.
We're just looking after our own employees, and we have the right to do that.' And the public agreed with it," O'Rourke said. "Ultimately, it just went away because public opinion, in general, moved in Disney's favor."Last month, Disney was forced to make a statement about a parental rights bill that was making its way through the Florida Legislature, which opponents named the "Don't Say Gay" bill and argued would hurt LGBTQ children and families.While a number of large corporations, including Marriott and American Airlines, quickly condemned the bill, Disney was not among the list of companies that did.As hundreds of employees staged a walkout in protest of Disney's silence on the.
