FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 22, 2022
Open Letter to Disney: Put Parents & Children Before Politics
Open letter encourages Disney to reverse its stance on
Florida’s pro-family HB 1557
Today, Disney employees are staging an all-day walkout in protest of Florida HB 1557, a bill that protects parents and children. The problem? Those are among Disney’s key consumers.
In response, Family Policy Alliance and Florida Family Policy Council have posted an open letter to Disney. The letter begins:
As a company whose primary consumers are parents and their children, turning against Disney’s own audience for supposed political gain seems nonsensical. Yet, in opposing Florida’s HB 1557 bill supporting parents and protecting children from sexualization, that is exactly what Disney has done. We, the undersigned, urge Disney to reconsider its opposition to Florida’s parental rights bill, HB 1557, and any others like it around the country.
Quote from Craig DeRoche, CEO and President of Family Policy Alliance:
“Disney has long been a household name, and has tried for decades to paint itself as a family-friendly entertainment company. A decision that’s bad for parents is a decision that’s bad for Disney. Yet, in one fell swoop, Disney has managed to oppose both good parents and good policy.”
Quote from John Stemberger, President of Florida Family Policy Council:
“The Disney CEO is being played like a fiddle and manipulated like a playdough cartoon. Even though 67% of Americans oppose what they are doing, Disney is more concerned with the screaming mob of woke employees who are literally bullying the company by abandoning paying guests at theme parks. Both Walt Disney and Roy Disney must be both rolling around in their graves. Disney has long lost its neutral status as a unifying nonpolitical element of our culture. Instead, they have now become political leftists and enemy number one to their primary base of customers– parents with small children.”
As the letter articulates, HB 1557 “supports the rights of parents to have access to critical information about their child’s academics, health and wellbeing. The bill also protects very young children, ages nine and younger, from being exposed to sexual themes and ideas.”
While some Disney employees are participating in today’s walkout, others are taking the opposite tack. Yesterday, anonymous conservative Disney employees released a lengthy open letter of their own stating that, “Over the last few weeks, we have watched as our leadership has expressed their condemnation for laws and policies we support.” The letter expressed concern over the “environment of fear” at Disney and the mounting pressure within the company to bow to a progressive agenda.
Ultimately, both the letter from Disney employees and the letter from the pro-family organizations ask the same thing of Disney: stay focused on prioritizing parents and children, not politics.
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Media Contact:
Robert Noland, (719) 308-2822, Media@FamilyPolicyAlliance.com
Family Policy Alliance advances biblical citizenship and promotes public policy that protects religious freedom, families, and life.