The LGBTQ+ community has been a big topic of conversation recently, with bills relating to this community being passed all over the United States. There’s the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida and anti-trans bills in states like Utah, Texas, New York, and tons more all over the country. There have been disputes popping up like wildfires from people trying to protect the LGBTQ+ community in the United States and with that there has also been support for these bills. Companies have been publicly showing support or taking a stand against these bills. One big company that consistently stands up for the LGBTQ+ community has been Disney.
In the past, Disney has been known to kind of stay out of the way of politics and let things run its course. Disney is now standing up for the LGBTQ+ community and showing the world that Disney is very LGBTQ+ friendly. When the “Don’t Say Gay” bill first got passed, hundreds of Disney workers protested the bill. There’s a website showing their disputes — many workers put together stage walkouts where workers would walk out of work and resulted in many upset park visitors. Even Disney’s donations to political parties got hit hard. Looking back at their donation records, they have supported both republican and democratic parties, but neither of them got a big donation after this bill was proposed.
In the Disney studios, which include Pixar, letters were sent out describing the studios support for the community and their disapproval for the anti-gay and anti-trans bills. Disney workers have also stopped using gendered welcoming phrases like, “Hello, boys and girls!” Disney parks have been in the process of removing gendered bathroom signs, and have also kept the presence of LGBTQ+ actors and stories within their movies and shows along with portraying more cultures, races, and ethnicities. Disney has been losing a lot of support from viewers and visitors, but really we should be throwing our support at them and appreciating that a big company like Disney is standing up for the LGBTQ+ community!