Hypocrisy Within Disney's Meager LGBT Representation

By Anonymous


Disney CEO brokers last-ditch meeting with DeSantis to stop 'Don't Say Gay' bill | The Independent


Recently, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law HB 1557, the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, effectively prohibiting “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity.” In response to this, Disney Parks and its CEO Bob Chapek issued criticism of the bill and pledged to devote their resources towards having the law repealed in Florida courts. This condemnation was, however, issued after the fact that Disney has donated $4.8 million to Florida candidates in the 2020 election cycle, making the financial arrangements for the architects of this bill to be positioned in office. This tremendous sum is accompanied by $913,000 to the Republican Party of Florida, and another $586,000 to GOP Senate campaigns, topped with $50,000 donated to DeSantis directly. Now with these political donation records surfaced and scrutinized in the public eye, Disney’s corporate board must suffer the consequences of the disparity between their public and private cultural values. 

One way to assess Disney’s multicultural efforts as a whole is to delve into its in-park and on-screen representations of members of the LGBTQ+ community. In Chapter 16 of The Civil Sphere, Jeffrey C. Alexander explains that within authentic multicultural spheres “Minority racial status… subordinated genders, repressed sexualities… even alternative civilizational capacities– all these primordial qualities become reinterpreted as representing variations on the sacred qualities of civility. Only insofar as such decentering succeeds, according to the multicultural mode, can there be incorporation. '' (452) During the 2021-2022 TV season, LGBTQ+ characters comprised 12% of roles. Disney, both on cable and on streaming services, boasts notably few queer and/or transgender characters. Disney+ hosts less than 12 recurring queer characters across all of its content. It has no transgendered characters across any of its platforms. As far as incorporating subordinated identities goes, Disney has fallen short of decentering heteronormativity in any of its entertainment.


                                                                                                                             Cameron Moore, 4/1/22



Alexander, Jeffrey C. 2006. The Civil Sphere. New York: Oxford Press.


Politico. 2022. “Disney pledges to stop Florida campaign donations over ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill.” 

Retrieved March 31, 2022 (https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/11/disney-pledges-to-stop-florida-campaign-donations-dont-say-gay-00016705)


Thomas Hitchens. 2022. “​​Disney+ Shocks With Dismal LGBTQ+ Inclusion, Drastically Trails 

Behind Other Streamers.” Retrieved March 31, 2022 (https://insidethemagic.net/2022/02/disney-plus-lgbtq-characters-th1/).

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