Pixar Employees Call Out Disney’s Response to Florida’s Anti-Gay Law: ‘There Are Lives at Stake’

actively censor depictions of, or references to, same-sex affection in films despite touting itself as an LGBTQ-affirming place to work.CEO Bob Chapek initially defended the decision, claiming that the company “unequivocally” stands with its LGBTQ employees in the wake of the bill’s passage but saying he feared that taking a firmer position on the bill could backfire if any statements were “weaponized” by either proponents or opponents of the bill.But following backlash, both internally and externally, Chapek apologized for the company’s silence, saying in a statement sent to employees that he was sorry for the pain caused by Disney’s inaction.“Speaking to you, reading your messages, and meeting with you have helped me better understand how painful our silence was,” Chapek said in the statement. “It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida, but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights.

“When we donate money to different political candidates, we have no idea how they’re going to vote going forward into the future,” said Disney CEO Bob Chapek at a shareholders meeting this past week.

And Just Like That…, the Sex and the City revamp, is queering up an LGBTQI television favourite. With the addition of a major Queer character, the return of some favourite gay characters and the inclusion of a gender questioning teen, And Just Like That… aims to address the issues of its predecessor.

A new ABC News/Ipsos poll published Sunday found that more than six in ten Americans oppose legislation that would prohibit classroom lessons about sexual orientation or gender identity in elementary school.

A bill has been introduced in the Georgia senate that resembles Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.

Chris Willman Music WriterThe Human Rights Campaign sure knows how to pick a month to throw a party, it was generally agreed by everyone attending the org’s annual L.A. dinner Saturday night, where the evening’s most invoked topics were veritably ripped out of the most topical mainstream media headlines.

UPDATE:  Human Rights Campaign Interim President Joni Madison said last night that she has spoken to Disney CEO Bob Chapek, but did not reveal specifics about their conversation.

Walt Disney Company Chief Executive Officer Bob Chapek issued a memo to the company’s LGBTQ+ and ally employees apologizing over his handling of the controversy over the media conglomerate’s response to Florida HB 1557, colloquially known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.

Visibility is essential.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek has apologised to employees for his silence over Florida’s controversial ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill which was passed earlier this week.The Republican-led bill, formally known as Parental Rights in Education, bans discussions of sexual orientation and gender identity from kindergarten to third grade classes (aged 8-9). It argued that conversations around identity should be handled by parents, not schools.The White House has called the legislation “hateful” and something which targets “vulnerable students”.Disney has been criticised for not speaking out against the bill.

It’s been a rough first two years for Bob Chapek in Disney’s top job.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek is facing a major test of his leadership, after the company’s botched response to an anti-gay bill in Florida sparked a staff revolt among LGBTQ employees and their supporters.Chapek apologized to the staff on Friday, saying he should have been “a stronger ally.” But for some employees, who found the company’s silence on the bill profoundly alarming, the statement came too late.“This is a CYA [cover your ass] for Chapek — this is a weak statement,” one Disney staffer told Variety. “We should have gotten this apology on March 1, not weeks after — and after this bill was passed in Florida.”For Chapek, the apology capped a full week of attempted damage control.

Jussie Smollett began a 150-day jail sentence for staging a hate crime against himself in protective custody, separated from other detainees and watched by security cameras and an officer, jail authorities said Friday. Sheriff's deputies immediately took Smollett to the Cook County Jail Thursday night after Judge James Linn sentenced the Black and gay actor to 30 months of felony probation, starting with a five-month term in jail, for lying to police that he had been the target of a racist and homophobic attack.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek is in full damage control mode today as the blast radius from the company’s bungled response to Florida’s “discriminatory ‘Don’t Say Gay’ legislation threatens his newly minted reign at the House of Mouse.

first reported on Twitter by journalist Judd Legum of the newsletter Popular Information, strikes back against Chapek’s comments — in both a company-wide memo sent to Disney employees and subsequent remarks at the company’s annual shareholder meeting — purporting to stand with the company’s LGBTQ employees and the LGBTQ community more broadly.In the memo, issued earlier this week, Chapek defended the company’s decision not to issue a statement on the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill — a piece of “parental rights” legislation that seeks to keep parents informed of any changes in the way schools deal with their children, particularly with respect to affirming a child’s gender identity or sexual orientation without the parents’ knowledge.The bill explicitly bans teacher- or school-led discussions of LGBTQ-related topics up to the third grade, and requires that any conversations in older grades be age-appropriate and “developmentally appropriate.” But critics say that, in practice, given the pressure on teachers and the lack of support from administrators seeking to appease overly-sensitive or litigious parents, schools — and individual teachers — will preemptively censor student speech or LGBTQ-related content, even at the middle and high school levels. Chapek’s memo was issued in response to demonstrations by LGBTQ groups outside of Disney theme parks in Florida and California, as well as simmering discontent among employees, which stemmed not only from what critics characterized as a tepid response to the bill, but from an Orlando Sentinel report that Disney donated to every politician who sponsored and co-sponsored the legislation.In the internal memo, Chapek said the company “unequivocally” stands in support of its LGBTQ

Disney executives have censored gay affection in its films.In an open letter attributed to LGBTQIA+ animators and allies at the studio (obtained by Variety), it reads: “We have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were.“Nearly every moment of overtly gay affection is cut at Disney’s behest, regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar.”The letter is in response to Disney’s messaging around the recently passed legislation in Florida known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which blocks the discussion of LGBT+ identities in schools.Disney’s soft reaction to the legislation attracted widespread criticism.

The Human Rights Campaign is not taking money from Disney anymore.

As controversy continued to swirl around Disney’s stance on Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill, the Hulk himself today tweeted praise for Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s statement in support of the LGBTQ+ community.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek, amid criticism for declining to speak out against the Florida “Don’t Say Gay” bill, came out against the legislation on Wednesday, insisting the media conglomerate has been “opposed to the bill from the outset” and noted he would engage with Gov. Ron DeSantis on the legislation.

For all intents and purposes, Disney is synonymous with Florida. That’s where Disney World is, and that’s kinda where everyone just assumes the corporation does most of its business.

Shortly after Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke out publicly against Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill today, a very pointed response began circulating internally at the studio. A letter signed by “The LGBTQIA+ employees of Pixar, and their allies” took Chapek to task. It refuted, point by point, an internal memo Chapek sent to employees this week.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer civil rights organization, said today it will not accept any funding from the Walt Disney Co. without a greater commitment to the LGBTQ+ agenda.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterThe Human Rights Campaign has rejected The Walt Disney Company’s donation to its efforts to protect LGBTQ+ rights, demanding that the company take “meaningful action” to combat Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.“The Human Rights Campaign will not accept this money from Disney until we see them build on their public commitment and work with LGBTQ+ advocates to ensure that dangerous proposals, like Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay or Trans’ bill, don’t become dangerous laws,” Joni Madison, interim president of the HRC, said in a statement on Wednesday evening. “While Disney took a regrettable stance by choosing to stay silent amid political attacks against LGBTQ+ families in Florida — including hardworking families employed by Disney — today they took a step in the right direction.

Pixar, and their allies” obtained by Variety, employees of the animation studio allege that Disney corporate executives have demanded cuts from “nearly every moment of overtly gay affection … regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar.”The stunning claim is part of a wider reaction to the company-wide memo sent to Disney  employees by CEO Bob Chapek on Monday regarding its response to the recently passed legislation in Florida known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. In the memo, Chapek states that the “biggest impact” the company can make “in creating a more inclusive world is through the inspiring content we produce.” According to the Pixar letter, that claim is at odds with employees’ experience of trying to content with same-sex affection approved by Disney executives.“We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were,” the letter states.

Disney‘s Bob Chapek is breaking his silence amid backlash.

Walt Disney CEO Bob Chapek finally came out swinging against Florida’s so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, telling shareholders at the annual meeting today that the company had always opposed it but opted to work behind the scenes to try to influence lawmakers.

Jennifer Maas TV Business WriterDisney CEO Bob Chapek said Wednesday the company is pledging $5 million to the Human Rights Campaign and other organizations protecting LGBTQ rights following backlash to the company’s initial quiet response to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation, as well as a report that the company has given money to all of the bill’s sponsors. Chapek, who is taking his first public stance against the bill, says he will also be meeting with Republican Gov.

Disney CEO Bob Chapek said on its shareholders meeting on Wednesday that he will be meeting with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis along with other Disney LGBTQ+ leaders in order to discuss the controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill that was passed in the state legislature this week.

Andy Cohen has slammed the “so-called ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill” banning Florida teachers in classes up to third grade from talking about LGBTQ issues with their students.

The Florida Senate has passed the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” on Tuesday, March 8.In a 22-17 vote, the Republican-controlled Senate approved the bill. It will now go on to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who is expected to sign it. If a school district is suspected of violating this law, parents would be able to sue.During the debate, Democrat Shevrin Jones, Florida’s first openly gay senator, tearfully said to his colleagues, “To those who think you can legislate gay people away, I’m sorry.

The Animation Guild’s Executive Board and QueerTAG Committee posted a response to social media regarding Disney’s CEO Bob Chapek and his lack of action or statement condemning Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill.

is partly enforced by allowing parents to sue any school they believe violated it.“The Animation Guild and the QueerTAG Committee want to express our immense disappointment with how The Walt Disney Company has responded to Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill. It is disheartening that Disney, one of the world’s most successful brands with massive resources and a global platform, failed to take any action to help prevent the passage of this bill,” the guild said in a statement posted to its various social media accounts.“It is one thing to say that you ‘unequivocally stand in support of our LGBTQ+ employees, their families, and their communities.’ It’s quite another for you to stand silent while this scurrilous piece of homophobic legislation passes,” the group continued.

At Disney’s last shareholder meeting the big issue was a sad girl scout who couldn’t see Raya And The Last Dragon with her troop because their local theater hadn’t accepted Disney’s stiff rental terms to show the film.

state Senate on Thursday passed a “Don’t Say Gay” bill that would ban “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity” in primary schools, LGBTQ groups expressed outrage that Disney, one of the state’s biggest employers, has not voiced its opposition to the legislation. In fact, Disney CEO Bob Chapek defended the company’s silence in an internal memo to staff on Monday and argued that corporate statements on political issues like the “Don’t Say Gay” bill can be “weaponized” and are often “counterproductive.”Jean-Marie Navetta, director of Learning and Inclusion for PFLAG National, told TheWrap that Chapek’s memo represented a “complete turnaround from the way Disney has behaved in the past” on such issues.

now heads to DeSantis’ desk for his signature into law.Proponents of the bill say the measure — which prohibits classroom discussions or curriculum content related to sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity through third grade — is needed to protect students from learning about complicated and controversial issues before they’re old enough to understand such concepts. The measure allows parents to sue school systems if they are not kept informed of changes affecting their children’s wellbeing or the support services, including counseling, that they receive.But opponents say that the bill’s overly broad reach will punish teachers if LGBTQ-related content is broached in class, even if such issues are raised by students — regardless of the insistence of the bill’s House and Senate sponsors, Rep.

U.S. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona has issued a warning to Florida’s governor, lawmakers, and educators after the state Senate late Tuesday morning passed the dangerous “Don’t Say Gay” bill.“The Department of Education has made clear that all schools receiving federal funding must follow federal civil rights law, including Title IX’s protections against discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity,” Secretary Cardona said in a statement.