Disney’s feud with Republican Governor Ron DeSantis over its objections to a new law limiting classroom discussion on sexual orientation and gender identity has just culminated to the Florida legislature giving final passage to a pair of bills on the issue. One of the bills would eliminate the special status allowing Disney’s operation as an independent government around its Orlando-area theme parks. The other eliminates a Disney carve-out in a social media bill that was put on hold by a federal judge.
Both bills passed 70-38 in the Florida House on Thursday, then passed the state Senate, and are now heading to DeSantis’ desk.
Florida State Republicans and DeSantis experienced condemnation from Disney earlier this year over legislation that prohibits schools from teaching young children about sexual orientation or gender identity. Disney CEO Bob Chapek publicly criticized Florida lawmakers for passing the opponents’ dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” bill and apologized to the company’s LGBTQ employees for not advocating more strongly. Chapek announced that Disney would stop making political donations in Florida following decades of generous contributions, mostly to Republicans. This included a $50,000 donation to DeSantis’ reelection effort.
State lawmakers added the Disney legislation to this week’s docket after DeSantis challenged lawmakers in a bombshell announcement to unravel the 55-year-old Reedy Creek Improvement Act. This is a unique Florida law that helped establish Walt Disney World in the state.
The bill, if signed by DeSantis, is scheduled to dissolve the special district on June 1, 2023.
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