DESANTIS TO DISNEY ‘THERE’S A NEW SHERIFF IN TOWN’

Jason Parsley

It is despicable that Senator Rubio and Congressman Banks are harkening back to an unpopular, Trump-era policy that would make it impossible for nearly every transgender American to serve openly in the military,” said HRC President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “The current policy is working and makes our military stronger. This is nothing more than a political stunt, aimed at riling up an extremist base at the expense of what is best for our military, and it will fail.”

U.S. Representative Jim Banks (R-IN) plans to introduce companion legislation in the House.

Rubio continued, “It is a stupid way to go about protecting our nation. We need to spend more time thinking about how to counter threats like China, Russia, and North Korea and less time thinking about pronouns.”

The press release from Rubio’s office also includes a quote from the Family Research Council, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated an anti-LGBT hate group

Over the past several years, Rubio has come out… against LGBT equality on several fronts including voting against the Respect for Marriage Act; calling the vote “a stupid waste of time,” and staunchly defending Florida’s Parental Rights in Education commonly known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Gov. Ron DeSantis made sure to let Walt Disney World know who was in charge Monday when he signed a bill that gives him control of the company’s selfgoverning district.

“There’s a new sheriff in town, and accountability will be the order of the day,” DeSantis said with bravado at a bill signing ceremony

Disney’s former CEO Bob Chapek crossed the governor when he publicly opposed the Parental Rights in Education bill, commonly known as the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

But the governor didn’t get everything he wanted. The original proposal was to completely dismantle the self-governing district known as Reedy Creek Improvement District. By doing so though, the local governments surrounding Disney may have had to not only absorb the land but also absorb the district’s $1 billion in bond liabilities held by the RCID.

So instead lawmakers revised the earlier proposals and have now instead opted to give the governor the authority to hand pick all five members of the district’s board, presumably to keep Disney in line. The district has also been renamed the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District.

Chapek initially refused to criticize the

“Don’t Say Gay” bill but later reversed course after facing backlash from inside and outside the company.

Disney attempted to smooth things over with the LGBT community by giving a large donation to the Human Rights Campaign, who rejected the funds until “meaningful action” was taken to oppose the bill.

Chapek eventually spoke out against the bill, which prompted DeSantis to retaliate by going after the RCID to punish the company.

Chapek stepped down as CEO late last year with former CEO Bob Iger retaking the job.

Meanwhile Iger has mostly stayed away from criticizing DeSantis or the “Don’t Say Gay,” instead focusing on what the company does best: storytelling.

“This company has been telling stories for 100 years, and those stories have had a meaningful, positive impact on the world, and one of the reasons they have had a meaningful, positive impact is because one of the core values of our storytelling is inclusion and acceptance and tolerance, and we can’t lose that,” CNBC reported Iger telling employees. “I don’t think when you are telling stories and attempting to be a good citizen of the world that that’s political.”