You wouldn’t know it from the outsized negative media coverage of Florida’s new “parental rights” law that protects young, impressionable K-3 students from being indoctrinated with transgender and sexual identity garbage, but most residents of the state, both Democrat and Republican, support the measure.
That includes a “silent majority” of Walt Disney Company staffers as well, according to one of them who is currently running for Congress as a GOP candidate.
According to Jose Castillo, the majority of Disney workers support H.B. 1557 in spite of a very vocal minority who are leading the entertainment behemoth’s stance against the law, which critics have falsely branded the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
“There is immense pressure to toe the company line,” Castillo told Fox News Digital. “However, the reality is that those drawing attention to this issue are in the minority.
“The Disney cast members who support the parental rights defended by HB 1557 far outnumber those who are protesting against it,” he continued.
Castillo claimed that “Disney and similar corporations listen to the loudest voices in the crowd,” even though the “silent majority” of employees disagree.
“That is why I am standing up for our shared conservative values; to show other conservative cast members like me that we need to speak up and stand strong,” he noted further.
Fox News noted further:
LGBTQ employees at Disney staged a protest earlier this month in response to what they regarded as an insufficient condemnation of the Florida bill, which prohibits classroom instruction – not casual discussion – on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” with children in third grade or younger, “or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”
Despite critics branding it a “Don’t Say Gay” bill, H.B. 1557 does not ban the word “gay” in school settings. Neither does it ban casual discussions of topics relating to sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom. It does not require schools to notify parents if their child identifies as gay or transgender.
Disney condemned the bill in an official statement Monday.
“Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law,” the statement, posted on the Walt Disney Company’s Twitter page, says. “Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to acheive that.”
“We are dedicated to standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country,” the statement concluded.
“I think that is a terrible miscalculation because it’s clear that the democratic process produced this law,” Castillo told Fox News Digital. “Floridians, including Disney employees, democratically elected Florida’s state House representatives and state senators, and those elected officials passed this law; and then, thank God, Governor DeSantis signed it into law.”
No one has pushed back harder against the false ‘Don’t Say Gay’ narrative than the man who signed the measure into law, Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In a recent back-and-forth with local reporter Evan Donovan, who shared a video of the exchange to Twitter, DeSantis challenged him to relate specifics about the legislation after he noted that critics were calling it “Don’t Say Gay.”
“Does it say that that in the bill?” DeSantis asked.
“I know that you support —” Donovan tried again.
“Does it say that in the bill?” DeSantis repeated the question.
“I’m asking —” Donovan protested, as DeSantis pushed back right away.
“I’m asking you to tell me what’s in the bill, because you are pushing false narratives,” DeSantis continued. “It doesn’t matter what critics say.”
JUST NOW: I asked @GovRonDeSantis if he supported HB 1557, the legislation critics call the 'Don't Say Gay' bill.https://t.co/CGiooSrKYn @WFLA https://t.co/H34CGSj7BJ pic.twitter.com/C518l1QaC3
— Evan Donovan (@EvanDonovan) March 7, 2022
