(Headline USA) California Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom invited Florida Disney World employees to move to his state after the company came out against a Florida bill preventing teachers from implementing radical gender- and LGBT ideology in K-3 classrooms.
“Disney, the door is open to bring those jobs back to California – the state that actually represents the values of your workers,” Newsom said.
Disney, the door is open to bring those jobs back to California – the state that actually represents the values of your workers. https://t.co/kbCi7Zgs90
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) March 13, 2022
He cited a report of a letter sent to Disney leadership by a group of Pixar employees who said they were “hurt” and “angry” over Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s refusal to condemn the bill, which has been falsely described as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill.
“We are writing because we are disappointed, hurt, afraid, and angry,” employees wrote in the undated statement released last week, which was signed by “the LGBTQIA+ employees of Pixar and their allies,” the employees wrote.
“In regards to Disney’s financial involvement with legislators behind the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, we hoped that our company would show up for us. But it didn’t.”
Chapek responded to criticism from employees and said the reason he did not at first issue a public statement against the bill as necessary is because corporate statements “do very little to change outcomes or minds” and are “often weaponized by one side or the other to further divide and inflame.”
He has since publicly condemned the bill.
Just over a year ago, Disney was condemning Newsom for keeping its Disneyland park shut down for well over a year.
In a letter to employees, Josh D’Amaro, chairman of Disney Parks, Experience, and Products, blamed California’s “unwillingness to lift restrictions that would allow Disneyland to reopen” for job losses across the park.
