I bet Disney is sorry it poked the Bear. Sure DeSantis is acting like a jackass, but he doesn't care. Disney on the other hand has bigger fish to fry as its revenues continue to drop. They don't need this fight.
Rule #1: Never poke the Bear.
Ron DeSantis-controlled Disney district abolishes diversity, equity initiatives
By Alexandra Steigrad, NY Post
August 1, 2023
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis escalated his feud with Disney on Tuesday as his hand-picked board that now oversees the district governing the Orlando theme parks abolished diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The move reflects similar measures championed by the Republican presidential hopeful over Disney’s so-called “woke” agenda that includes curtailing diversity and inclusion programs in Florida state colleges.
The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District — which replaced the former Disney-run Reedy Creek district after the Mouse House contested DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” law — said it would scrap its DEI committee and any job duties connected to it.
The board also eliminated initiatives pushed by the former Disney-controlled board that awarded contracts based on goals of achieving racial or gender parity.
Glenton Gilzean, the district’s new administrator, a conservative African American and a former head of the Central Florida Urban League, called such initiatives “illegal and simply un-American.”
“Our district will no longer participate in any attempt to divide us by race or advance the notion that we are not created equal,” said Gilzean, a DeSantis appointee to the Florida Commission on Ethics.
He continued: “As the former head of the Central Florida Urban League, a civil rights organization, I can say definitively that our community thrives only when we work together despite our differences.”
Ron DeSantis
Ron DeSantis appointees took control of the renamed district earlier this year following a yearlong feud between Disney and DeSantis.
Disney did not immediately respond for comment.
Last spring, DeSantis signed into law a measure that blocks public colleges from using federal or state funding on diversity programs.
DeSantis also has championed Florida’s so-called “Stop WOKE” law, which bars businesses, colleges and K-12 schools from giving training on certain racial concepts, such as the theory that people of a particular race are inherently racist, privileged or oppressed.
A federal judge last November blocked the law’s enforcement in colleges, universities and businesses, calling it “positively dystopian.”
Disney World
Also axed were initiatives left over from when the district was controlled by Disney supporters, which awarded contracts based on goals of achieving racial or gender parity.
Getty Images
The creation of the district, then known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, was instrumental in Disney’s decision to build its Disney World resort near Orlando in the 1960s.
Judge sides with Ron DeSantis in feud with Disney, rejects lawsuit’s dismissal
Having a separate government allowed the company to provide zoning, fire protection, utilities and infrastructure services on its sprawling property.
The district was controlled by Disney supporters for more than five decades.
The DeSantis appointees took control of the renamed district earlier this year following a yearlong feud between the company and DeSantis.
The fight began last year after Disney, beset by significant pressure internally and externally, publicly opposed a state law banning classroom lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity in early grades, a policy critics call “Don’t Say Gay.”
As punishment, DeSantis took over the district through legislation passed by Republican lawmakers and appointed a new board of supervisors to oversee municipal services for the sprawling theme parks and hotels.
Disney sued DeSantis and his five board appointees in federal court, claiming the Florida governor violated the company’s free speech rights by taking the retaliatory action.
Before the new board came in, Disney made agreements with previous oversight board members who were Disney supporters that stripped the new supervisors of their authority over design and development.
The DeSantis-appointed members of the governing district have sued Disney in state court in a second lawsuit stemming from the district’s takeover, seeking to invalidate those agreements.
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