What’s Really Going On With Disney? The Dark Truth Behind The Entertainment Conglomerate

In March 2022, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis disrupted Disney’s regular scheduled programming when he signed House Bill 1557, Parental Rights in Education , which reinforces parents’ fundamental rights to make decisions regarding the upbringing of their children. The bill prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade and prohibits instruction that is not age-appropriate for students. It requires school districts to adopt procedures for notifying parents if there is a change in services from the school regarding a child’s mental, emotional, or physical health. While sighs of relief were heard from parents, cries of outrage were heard by Disney’s executives and employees. Disney Objects to Parents Teaching Their Own Kids about Sexuality In fact, one Disney executive, Latoya Raveneau, boasted about her agenda and efforts to “add queerness” to children’s programming in a leaked audio recording, published by investigative journalist Chris Rufo. She directly stated, “Our leadership over there has been so welcoming to my, like, not-at-all-secret gay agenda. I was just, wherever I could, just basically adding queerness…no one would stop me and no one was trying to stop me. Something must have happened in the last—they are turning it around, they’re going hard.” Disney has vowed to keep fighting Florida’s new law , saying “it 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 Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts.” President of Disney General Entertainment Karey Burke spoke out directly against the bill, saying , “Perhaps had this moment not happened, I as a leader and we as my colleagues would not have focused on inserting more LGBT characters into Disney stories. Going forward, I certainly will be more so, I know that we will be.” She later stated her goal is to have at least 50% of Disney characters be LGBT or racial minorities by the year's end. Her goal is to have at least 50% of Disney characters be LGBT or racial minorities by the year's end. The important piece to drive home is this isn’t about exclusion or bigotry against the LGBTQ community, despite how it’s being framed. This is about protecting the innocence of young children during their most impressionable years when they can’t yet fully grasp such concepts. Leaving these sensitive conversations and introductions rightfully in the hands of their caregivers allows children space to develop into their own sexuality without external programming. As stated by Speaker Chris Sprowls in response to the bill , “The government should never take the place of a parent. We’re taking a firm stand in Florida for parents when we say instruction on gender identity and sexual orientation does not belong in the classroom where 5 and 6-year-old children are learning. It should be up to the parent to decide if and when to introduce these sensitive topics. This shouldn’t be controversial, and a majority of Americans agree.” Disney’s LGBT Depictions Are Only Going To Increase What should be frightening to parents, however, is the subtle incremental growth of sexual agendas being ushered into a once family-friendly empire , that is only going to increase. Such films like Finding Dory in 2016 and Toy Story 4 in 2019 featured same-sex couples in the background. But things are becoming much more forward than that. In 2020, a bold short film called Out presented the storyline of a gay man coming out to his parents. And just recently in March 2022, there was a lot of controversy surrounding Pixar’s Turning Red that saw screen time on Disney+. This film told the story of a 13-year-old girl named Mei Lee, and explicitly referred to menstruation and puberty. Lightyear, the latest release from Pixar which hit theaters this month, is breaking ground with the first animated same-sex kiss taking place between Buzz’s fellow ranger and another woman. Jessica Darrow, the voice of Luisa in Disney’s recent hit Encanto, who describes herself as queer said, “We are the face of Disney at the end of the day,” when asked about LGBT’s influence on Disney. Closing Thoughts Not only do many of the films created by Disney show parents as bumbling idiots while indicating that children know best, their staff and leadership's openness about pushing their agenda , despite parent's rightful concerns, is downright disturbing. One thing is for sure: Disney isn't as innocent and wholesome as they'd like the public to believe. Each and every one of their character's details are extremely well thought-out and formulated to push forward a certain message. The bottom line is that if you have children, keeping healthy lines of communication open with them about these topics and staying involved in their media exposure will become a safeguard against intended grooming. Love Evie? Let us know what you love and what else you want to see from us in the official Evie reader survey .