Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis is reminding us what can happen when America’s corporate giants stray too far from their lane.
On Tuesday, DeSantis announced that the state legislature would consider dismantling special protections for Disney after the massive corporation began to grandstand over the recently signed Parental Rights in Education law.
The law, dubiously branded the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by its opponents among Democrats and the corporate press, bars classroom instruction on “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” for kids in kindergarten through third grade. Disney condemned the popular law and admonished Florida Republicans while at the same time expanding its operations in openly homophobic countries where homosexuality is a crime punishable by death.
“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. Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that,” the company said in a statement following the governor’s signature. “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.”
In contrast to Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who merely complained when Atlanta-based corporations launched an economic boycott of the state over the legislature’s voter ID law, DeSantis is waging a campaign on behalf of Florida voters to respond in kind to Disney’s attacks.
“I am announcing today that we are expanding the call of what they are going to be considering this week,” DeSantis said of the legislature’s upcoming special session. “They will be considering the congressional map, but they also will be considering termination of all special districts that were enacted in Florida prior to 1968, and that includes the Reedy Creek Improvement District.”
The special district was granted to Disney in May 1967 after the company’s lobbying allowed the entertainment giant to develop 25,000 acres of swampland in remote central Florida. Orange and Osceola Counties at the time didn’t have the resources to welcome the massive project that would eventually become Walt Disney World, so the company was given a special tax district with county-level authority to self-govern.
DeSantis signaled the push for the termination of Disney’s special privileges earlier this month at a press conference in West Palm Beach.
“Disney has alienated a lot of people now,” DeSantis said after the company embraced left-wing radicalism on sex. “And so the political influence they’re used to wielding, I think has dissipated. And so the question is, why would you want to have special privileges in the law at all? And I don’t think that we should.”
The governor issued a proclamation on Tuesday outlining why it was time for Disney’s 55-year-old special treatment from the state to expire, an idea that has already drawn support from lawmakers.
The potential termination of its special tax privileges deals a major blow to the company, which operates in Florida. It’s a reminder of the consequences for corporations that insert themselves into politics, weigh into issues that have nothing to do with their business, and wage war on families in an effort to virtue signal.
The purpose of a democratically elected government is to serve constituents, which includes effective pushback against conduct such as Disney’s by using every lever at its disposal. This is an exercise that DeSantis, in stark contrast to what Republican voters have become used to, is not hesitating to pursue.
