DeSantis Slams Woke Disney CEO Over Florida Anti-grooming Bill Opposition, Hypocrisy
Keneci Channel
The Parental Rights in Education bill bans Florida school employees or third parties from giving classroom instruction on "sexual orientation" or "gender identity" in kindergarten through third grade.
The bill, which passed the state Senate Tuesday after passing the House last month, has been dubbed the "Don’t Say Gay" bill by left-wing activists who falsely claim it bans any discussion pertaining to being gay in the state's schools.
Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke out Wednesday, against the bill for the first time in the company’s annual shareholder meeting.
"I called Gov. DeSantis this morning to express our disappointment and concern that if the legislation becomes law, it could be used to unfairly target gay, lesbian, non-binary, and transgender kids and families," he said.
Chapek said the governor was "very open" to hearing his concerns.
Ron DeSantis spokeswoman Christina Pushaw said in a statement: "Governor DeSantis has always been open to hearing from Floridians and having conversations about legislation – as long as those discussions are grounded in facts, not false media narratives. The governor's position has not changed."
Speaking to supporters in Boca Raton, DeSantis said policies should "be based on the best interest of Florida citizens, not on the musing of woke corporations."
The governor called out the hypocrisy of big businesses like Walt Disney Company.
"When you have companies that have made a fortune off being family friendly and catering to families and young kids, they should understand that parents of young kids do not want this injected into their kid’s kindergarten classroom," he said. "You have companies, like at Disney, that are going to say and criticize parents' rights, they’re going to criticize the fact that we don’t want transgenderism in kindergarten in first grade classrooms. If that’s the hill they’re going to die on, then how do they possibly explain lining their pockets with their relationship from the Communist Party of China? Because that’s what they do, and they make a fortune, and they don’t say a word about the really brutal practices that you see over there at the hands of the CCP. And so in Florida, our policies got to be based on the best interest of Florida citizens, not on the musing of woke corporations."