Disney vs Ron DeSantis: The conflict between the company and Florida’s governor explained
Disney has accused Florida Governor Ron DeSantis of retaliation after the company came out against anti-LGBTQ legislation passed by the state.
On Wednesday, Disney filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis and several Florida officials.
This news comes after Gov. DeSantis launched various attacks on the company, which Disney has been able to undermine at each turn. Gov. DeSantis tried to take over Disney’s special tax district, which allows the theme park to govern itself. The Florida Legislature voted to dissolve the district’s old governing board and create in its place a Central Florida Tourism Oversight District (CFTOD), whose members are appointed by DeSantis. However, Disney averted losing control by removing any powers of the board before the DeSantis appointees could take their seats.
Why has Disney sued Florida Governor Ron DeSantis?
The conflict between Governor DeSantis and Disney goes back to the passage of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Disney publically criticized the legislation, fully within the company’s rights as a private enterprise.
What is the "Don't Say Gay" law?
Under the Parents' Rights in Education Act (HB 1557), public school teachers in Florida are prohibited from teaching classes on sexual orientation or gender identity. The law includes three key aspects:
- This bill prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in K-3 classrooms, and after 3rd grade, these conversations must be age-appropriate;
- The bill ensures that at the beginning of each school year, parents will be notified of health services offered at the school, with the right to refuse any service offered; and
- The bill ensures that whenever a health questionnaire or screening is given to K-3 students, parents receive it first and give the school permission to administer the health screening or questionnaire to their child.
After Disney, which happens to be the largest employer in the state, came out against the law, Gov. DeSantis began to attack the company as “woke.”
When the law was passed, the governor said that it was “bad policy” to continue “allowing a corporation to control its own government [...], especially when the corporation makes decisions that impact the entire region.” DeSantis also applauded the legislation for ending “Disney’s self-governing status” and that it “makes Disney live under the same laws as everybody else.”
Nevertheless, the fact that all these actions have come after Disney attacked the governor’s policy has the company arguing that the attack is purely retaliatory. Critics argue that if Dinsey had come out in support of the anti-LGBTQ legislation, DeSantis would not be picking a fight with one of the world’s largest and most recognizable corporations.
What does Disney argue in the lawsuit?
Disney’s lawsuit relates to this action by the state government and claims that it voided a contract between the government and the company signed before the CFTOD was created.
Disney has also called attention to how Gov. DeSantis’s attack on the company threatens business investment and jobs since the new members of the oversight board canceled “publicly noticed and duly agreed development contracts which had laid the foundation for billions of Disney’s investment dollars.”