This article was written on March 30, 2022, and may include topics that have since been updated with new information.
Disney is known for having a complicated relationship with the queer community. With its poor attempts at LGBTQ+ representation and constant dabbling in rainbow capitalism, the company isn’t known for being the best ally. These past few weeks, however, Disney’s dicey past has caught up to them.
On Tuesday, March 22, 60 to 70 Walt Disney Company employees staged a walkout at the company’s Burbank, Calif. headquarters to protest the company’s stance on Florida’s Parental Rights In Education Bill, also dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay or Trans” Bill. The bill will allow schools to limit the discussion of sexual and gender identity. Employees called out Disney’s lack of a proper response to the bill, especially considering Disney’s history of donating to the same politicians who are in favor of the Don’t Say Gay or Trans Bill, including Florida governor, Ron DeSantis.
After the initial backlash, Disney CEO Bob Chapek finally spoke against DeSantis and the Florida bill at the company’s annual shareholder meeting. According to CNBC, he declared that Disney would pause all donations to the lawmakers and instead pledge five million dollars to organizations that are dedicated to helping the LGBTQ+ community, including the Human Rights Campaign.
However, the Human Rights Campaign refused to accept the money until Disney showed more immediate action to combat the Florida bill. Such feelings were shared with Disney employees, who felt that Chapek’s claims weren’t enough.
Through a website, WhereIsChapek.com, employees outlined instructions, schedules, statements, graphics and other information for fellow employees to follow. Also included on the website was a list of demands for Disney “to regain the trust of the LGBTQIA+ community and employees.” Such demands called for Disney to permanently cease all campaign donations to politicians and “publicly commit to an actionable plan that protects employees from hateful legislation.”
Despite Disney’s claims of caring for the LGBTQIA+ community, it’s within reason why so many people don’t trust the promises that they’ve made. Ironically, Chapek stated in his memo that the biggest impact Disney, a multi-billion dollar company, could make regarding the Don’t Say Gay or Trans Bill, was “through the inspiring content [they produce].” Yet, Disney is known for giving ambiguous and vague portrayals of queer characters in their films.
They did so in the live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast, in which they claimed LeFou’s character would be gay. But, the only suggestion of his sexuality we were given was a three-second scene in which he was seen dancing with another man. The same was done in the recent Jungle Cruise movie, where a character refuses to marry a woman because his romantic interests lay “elsewhere.” And in the case of Pixar’s Onward, audiences were promised a lesbian character, but what they got was a female character briefly mentioning her wife.
The same hype was placed on Marvel’s Avengers: Endgame, which was stated to feature the MCU’s first canonically gay character. But, it ended up being a brief cameo by Joe Russo in which he talks about losing his male partner. It’s important to note that he never outwardly states that he’s his partner, the fact was only confirmed by the Russo brothers in interviews.
Other supposed “representations” only happened in the background, as with Toy Story 4, where two women are seen with their arms linked, and Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, where two women kiss in celebration. Both moments are blink-and-you’ll-miss-it scenes.
The company has since finally included a gay main character in their recent Marvel film, The Eternals, where the character Phastos has a husband, who he kisses on camera. Still, this is a first after over a decade of MCU films.
Though it’s only been about a week since the employee walkout, there have already been results. The open letter provided on the WhereIsChapek.com website revealed that Disney executives had cut “nearly every moment of overtly gay affection,” including a same-sex kiss scene in the upcoming Pixar film, Lightyear. Since then, Disney has added the scene back into the final cut of the movie.
The employees’ uproar has also brought “rainbow capitalism” under major light. Rainbow capitalism refers to companies’ materialistic allyship to the queer community, especially in the month of June, but lack of genuine action to make major changes in favor of the LGBTQIA+ community. It’d been an issue discussed among queer people for years, but with the walkout making headlines, companies across the globe can see the major repercussions of their offhand help.
It’s important for companies to understand that queer people aren’t a footnote. They can no longer get away with jumping in and out of love with the community for the sake of staying “politically ambiguous” because we’re not a political statement. We’re people and deserve to be treated as such.