Disney Dissent Grows Over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ As LGBTQ+ Staff Plan Walkouts Starting Today
If Bob Chapek and the rest of the Disney brass thought the March 11 apology over the House of Mouse’s fumbling response to Florida’s Don’t Say Gay legislation would placate the outrage among their own staff, they should think again.“Due to the lack of compassion and advocacy, TWDC’s LGBTQIA+ community and their allies are determined to take a stand via multiple direct actions, including both virtual and in-person protests – the first of which will take place on Tuesday, March 15th,” said an open letter from a self-described “Disney Employee” posted online and on social media Monday (read it here).“The recent statements by The Walt Disney Company (TWDC) leadership regarding the Florida legislature’s recent ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill have utterly failed to match the magnitude of the threat to LGBTQIA+ safety represented by this legislation,” the posting went on to say after what was described to Deadline as the worst week at the media giant as Chapek seemed to stumble through his first political stance test since taking over as CEO in 2020.Striking reminiscent of the response of many Netflix’s employees’ to the anti-Trans barbs in Dave Chappelle’s The Closer last year, the intended walk outs are supposed to start today from 3:00 PM to 3:15 PM and continue daily at the same time in each staffer’s respective time zone until March 21.
On March 22, a full-scale walkout is set to take place. Now, the majority of Disney non-theme park employees still working from home or on a set due to Covid-19 safety protocols, don’t expect to see much of a crowd outside the gates in Burbank, at least not today.Disney did not comment on the situation when contact by Deadline today.However, internally, things were a little bit more complex.“The Pride
