Disney's Battle with DeSantis Proves Costly as Florida Officials Look to Revoke Company's 'Self-Governing' Status
In the aftermath of Disney’s attack on Florida officials for passing a bill to strengthen parental rights, Florida Republicans are taking a new look at 55-year-old legislation that has given the company vast power to make its own rules inside Walt Disney World near Orlando.
The bill, officially named Parental Rights in Education, largely focuses on procedures to ensure that parents can be informed of any services that students receive at school.
About halfway through the bill, it says, “Classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
That clause was attacked by liberals and led to Disney condemning the bill, saying the law “should never have passed and should never have been signed into law,” according to Fox News.
DeSantis said that if Disney wants to get heavily involved in politics, then perhaps it no longer deserves to be above the rules.
Disney has a ‘Diversity and inclusion manager’? How special. ? My sisters & cousins had so much fun in Fort Wilderness every summer growing up. It’s sad they’re going woke.
Stay out of politics, #Disney #GowokeGobroke pic.twitter.com/7X36IGTKqn— ?Seahawkscita? (@johnson_wilkes) March 30, 2022
“What I would say as a matter of first principle is I don’t support special privileges in law just because a company is powerful and they’ve been able to wield a lot of power,” DeSantis said Thursday during a news conference in West Palm Beach.
Disney threw its weight around last year in a Florida bill to curb the power of Big Tech, DeSantis said, adding: “I’m thinking to myself, ‘This is ridiculous. Honestly, it was embarrassing.”
DeSantis suggested that special treatment for Disney has evolved to the point where it needs to be reviewed and perhaps cut back.
“I think what has happened is there’s a lot of these special privileges that are not justifiable, but because Disney had held so much sway, they were able to sustain a lot of special treatment over the years,” he said.
Republican state Rep. Spencer Roach said the process of treating Disney like everybody else has already begun.
Yesterday was the 2nd meeting in a week w/fellow legislators to discuss a repeal of the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act, which allows Disney to act as its own government. If Disney wants to embrace woke ideology, it seems fitting that they should be regulated by Orange County. pic.twitter.com/6sj29Gj6Wz
— SpencerRoach (@SpencerRoachFL) March 30, 2022
“Yesterday was the 2nd meeting in a week w/fellow legislators to discuss a repeal of the 1967 Reedy Creek Improvement Act, which allows Disney to act as its own government,” Roach tweeted. “If Disney wants to embrace woke ideology, it seems fitting that they should be regulated by Orange County.”
Disney has “lost a lot of the pull that they used to have” after siding against parents, DeSantis said, calling that a “good thing for our state because the state should be governed by the best interest of the people.”
“I would say any special privileges that are in law I would like to get rid of generally,” he said.
Ron DeSantis Calls Out Disney’s Attempts to control Florida politics. Says, “Corporate executives from California do not run this state.” pic.twitter.com/hNHU6eAOTL
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) March 29, 2022
“I think in this particular case with Disney, I just don’t think you have very many people in the legislature anymore who are going to be able to defend a lot of what has been done over many years to really have them almost govern themselves in some of these things. That was probably never appropriate to start but is certainly not appropriate now at this point,” DeSantis said.
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