Disney Employees Stage Walkouts Over Florida Bill

Walt Disney Co employees held walkouts and social media campaigns on Tuesday to protest the company's response to Florida legislation that would limit classroom discussions about sexual orientation or gender identity.

In a rare instance of public unrest, about 60 Disney employees gathered at a park outside  Los Angeles, where they held up signs calling on Disney to 'protect LGBTQ kids' and chanted " Disney say gay. We won't go away."

A technical director at Disney television, Taylor White has said, “A lot of people enjoy working for Disney and a lot of people are upset that the company they love is harming the subset of employees and their community in Florida.”

Organizers called on Disney to stop making campaign contributions to politicians supporting the Florida measure and to develop a plan to protect employees from such legislation. They also want Disney to stop construction in Florida until the state repeals the measure, which Republican Governor Ron DeSantis has indicated he will sign. If so, it will go into effect on July 1.

Disney attempted to address employee concerns through a virtual town hall on Monday. Chief executive Bob Chapek said the company made the mistake of initially keeping it publicly silent about the legislation and pledged to use the moment as a catalyst for change.