After ‘Don’t Say Gay,’ a Weakened Disney Hopes to Limit the Damage
Disney’s self-governing district. Two weeks earlier, Gov. Ron DeSantis had abolished the district in retaliation for Disney’s opposition to a law that restricts classroom instruction on LGBTQ identity – known to critics as “Don’t Say Gay.” The two officials – one of them the chief deputy counsel in DeSantis’ office — went to figure out what the state was getting into. The leaders of the Reedy Creek Improvement District showed them a PowerPoint detailing their responsibilities for a 54-megawatt power plant, 65 miles of canals, various roads and pedestrian bridges, and a fire department that handles 35,000 calls a year, largely for heat-related illness, at the Disney theme parks.