Before we get to today’s The Horror That is Florida’s Politics, let me recap how we got here. Last year, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the Don’t Say Gay bill into law. The bill was a direct attack on the LGBTQ community and targeted school aged children. Disney CEO at the time, Bob Chapek gave an insufficient response to the bill, so Disney companies like Pixar called out Poppa Mouse for exploiting the LGBTQ community for dollars but never actually supporting them. Disney heard the message and began to step up. We can debate whether they did enough another time because DeSantis is the subject of my ire today.
Disney holds special governing rights in their little magical section of Florida. When they took a stance against Don’t Say Gay, DeSantis asked lawmakers to take those rights away. The issue was, it really messed with tax codes in the area and violated some existing laws so everyone ignored DeSantis directive. Last Monday, DeSantis signed another law, but this one came specifically for Disney. It reverts the power of the governing body of the Disney district back to the state and guess who is selecting the board to run it? That’s right, everyone DeSantis either owes a favor to or wants to win over.
Appearing at the doorstep of Walt Disney World, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Monday that gives him new power over Disney, effectively punishing the entertainment giant for speaking out against the Republican’s political agenda.
The new law amounts to a state takeover of the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the government body that has given Disney unique powers in Central Florida for more than half a century. It allows the governor to replace the district’s existing board – mostly people with ties to Disney – with a five-member body that he hand-picks.
“Today, the corporate kingdom finally comes to an end,” DeSantis said Monday at a Reedy Creek fire station in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. “There’s a new sheriff in town and accountability will be the order of the day.”
DeSantis announced his appointments to the reconstructed board, including Martin Garcia, a Tampa lawyer and prolific Republican donor whose private investment firm contributed $50,000 to DeSantis’ reelection, and Bridget Ziegler, a Sarasota County School Board member who was a co-founder of the conservative organization Moms for Liberty and the wife of Christian Ziegler, the new chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.
The move against Disney comes nearly a year after the company spoke out against a Florida bill – which DeSantis later signed into law – to restrict certain classroom instruction about sexual orientation and gender identity. In March of last year, as outrage against the legislation spread nationwide, Disney released a statement vowing to help get the law repealed or struck down by the courts and saying the company was “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.”
DeSantis responded by calling on lawmakers to strip Disney of its special governing power, which they did last year, ending a longstanding arrangement that allowed the company to build its sprawling, iconic Orlando-area theme parks into an international tourist destination and one of the state’s most critical economic engines.
Lawmakers, though, changed course amid concerns a disruption of Reedy Creek’s debt and contracts violated the state law that created the special tax district. Instead, DeSantis appointees will be in charge of the district’s long-standing powers to tax, build and borrow money for projects and services around Disney’s vast footprint in Orange and Osceola counties. It also renames Reedy Creek as the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, restricts its use of eminent domain and removes never-used powers that could have allowed Disney to build its own airport or a nuclear plant.
“Disney came out against something that was really just about protecting young kids, and making sure that students are able to go to school learning to read, write, add, subtract, and not having a teacher tell them that they can change their gender,” DeSantis said Monday. “And I think most parents agree with that. But you know, that was only a mild annoyance. I think that what we came to realize after that dust settled on that was you clearly had a movement within the corporation itself.”
Okay, I’m not sure Disney should’ve ever had the right to build their own nuclear plant. Although, I would kind of like to see what that would look like: Welcome to Mr. Toad’s Wild Reactor! I won’t pretend to know how Florida politics work. DeSantis doesn’t pretend to, why should I? But this is a ballsy chess game he’s playing. Initially, I laughed DeSantis off because Disney can make life very difficult for those who want to cross them. But they aren’t going to dig up their Orlando Parks and replant them. I don’t, in fact, know how much sway that horrible, hateful man has over the district. This reads like a flex. DeSantis wanted to be able to print that he punished Disney for defying him, look how tough he is, nobody pushes little Ronnie around. We’ll know soon enough. It’s Disney’s move. Bob Iger’s back in the CEO chair. They’ll strike when their irons are hot.
I am, however, choked by the audacity of DeSantis in this statement, “Disney came out against something that was really just about protecting young kids, and making sure that students are able to go to school learning to read, write, add, subtract, and not having a teacher tell them that they can change their gender.” I know there are good people in Florida, so I would never wish something to happen to the state. Let me just say, though, how much I wish Disney security would remove DeSantis from the park.
Photo credit: Instagram and Getty Images
I am looking forward to Disney’s response to this.
I think one of their moves should be a kid’s film where a clone of Desantis is the villain. Make the character similar enough so that every child runs away screaming when they see Desantis walking by…
Disney isn’t fighting it because it makes $1 billion in debt local taxpayers problem. The party of small government and low taxes really stuck it to Disney by sticking it to middle and working class families.
while the board DeSantis installed is only supposed to have power over the them parks, DeSantis and other conservatives are hinting that they plan to use that power to impose their views on Disney’s creative content. This is absolutely chilling and a prime example of first amendment violations
LOL at the movie idea! Reminds me of when Roland Emmerich made “Godzilla” and included a stupid, incompetent character named Ebert – because Roger Ebert had given Emmerich’s last movie a terrible review. The Ebert character even has an assistant named Gene who gives him a thumbs-down on how he’s handling this whole Godzilla situation.
Disney should move its park to any state willing to give them the conditions they enjoyed in Florida, and that puts laws into books protecting the rights of lgbtqia+ people. Disney is one of the richest corporate entities on earth. It can take a stand and move the needle. Question is, does that conglomerate of lawyers have either a conscience or a backbone to get it done.
Trying to think of a state that shares a similar climate as FL, has the amount of open land that Disney would require, but isn’t controlled by a Republican gov and I’m coming up with nothing.
Hawai’i will welcome AAAALLL the tourist dollars.
I don’t think Hawaii would, tourism has done so much environmental and infrastructure damage to the island and resident communities, and all I’ve seen recently are locals angry at having to pay premium for everything because of the tourism industry and being forced into low-wage jobs to cater to tourists.
This doesn’t mean nobody should visit Hawaii but Disney opening up there would be terrible.
People from all over the world like to go to Florida in the winter. The only place comparable would be SoCal and Disney already operates there.
Hawaii doesn’t have a lot of open available space. None, in fact. They’re very small islands, literally the tops of volcanoes sticking up out of the ocean, with a lot of land that is owned by the military, owned by Kamehameha Schools, owned by the Department of Hawaiian Homelands—with close to 1,000 people on a waiting list for homesteads–and owned by various other state entities. The typical living space for average folks is in the 400-700 square foot range, there’s literally no room for anything with as large a footprint as a Disney park. Everything has to come in & go out by plane or ship, as the Hawaiian Islands are the most remote in the world.
Yup, the only state I can think of that fits the bill…already has Disneyland.
Want Georgia to go from purple to blue?
We went to Disney pre-COVID and everyone stated that Disney employees A LOT of the population in the area. So this is all about him looking like a tough guy and cares nothing of the people who may be affected if this goes south for him.
Also, so much for smaller government that the republicans so firmly believe in.
Yeah, I say all the time that we need to do everything we can to keep this guy out of the White House. He is way more dangerous than even Trump.
I agree. When January 6th happened we all discussed on this site that someone smarter is taking notes and will be a true menace to our country. My question is that I have read his wife is the mastermind behind his persona and how he maneuvers. Not sure if that is true.
Agreed. I’ve seen too many people laugh him off because, you know, Florida. But Trump HATES DeSantis which tells you everything you need to know. He sees him as a legitimate threat
I agree he scares me
DeSatin scares me as well and I live with Abbott the Abomination. We have our own massive issues with the Repugnant’s but DeSatin is looking for greener pastures and this is just starting. DeSatin has already started a soft campaign. Lucky for Floridians but awful for all of the US residents.
I agree @OriginalLeigh he is extremely dangerous, racist, and a homophobe. He knows the Cuban population of Florida, who is overwhelmingly racist, will back him and his little “war on woke.” They can dress it up in code words all they want (“fear of communism” etc.) we all know exactly what he is and why he is backed by people who hate Blacks, hate Mexicans, hate Puerto Ricans, hate all the brown and darker browned skinned immigrants and want White Supremacists making all the decisions, seeing themselves as the only White adjacent acceptable immigrants after White Europeans and White Canadians.
He is far worst than Trump. And that wife of his is the mother of all Karens. Melania is completely harmless by comparison.
Yup. Casey DeSantis is truly an evil woman and the modern day version of Phyllis Schlafly (the inspiration for Serena Joy from Handmaid’s Tale). Behind the scenes, she is the one co-creating these policies and culture wars with him, including letting people die of covid in Florida. And he does nothing without her approval. Even Ivanka had nowhere this level of influence or impact on Trump as Casey does on Ron DeSantis.
@Side Eye, interesting you brought up communism because I know a Cuban woman who used that excuse on why they vote republican and I was like ARE YOU SMOKING something? I was completely left speechless at the stupidity of it. I said: people like you (immigrants) is what republicans do not want!!!!!!!
Also interesting on his wife – I have read she is the mastermind behind the curtain.
@Korra yes Casey in the White House is a terrifying prospect. Absolutely terrifying.
@Seraphina thank you for calling this crap by its right name. Always bugs me when the media repeats these talking points (we’re scared of Communism) as if they are true. Of course they aren’t going to say out loud they hate Black people or Mexicans or migrants and that is why they back this dude. His little war on woke is especially for the Cuban community – just a reminder I’m gonna crush those Brown people they aren’t OUTSTANDING immigrants like yourselves. The Cuban community EATS it up and runs to those polls feeling like super special White adjacent unicorns. It’s gross and it’s time people call this exactly what it is.
He is starting with a war on the Trans community. They are easy targets because of all this ignorance. Of course this war extends to the entire LGTB community. Of course migrants, Mexicans, Haitians, Brown skinned immigrants and American born citizens who are Black or Brown will eventually follow, as will the Jewish community, and everyone not White and that includes Cubans – no one will be left to protect them when White Supremacy turns on the Cuban community – and trust me it will eventually. Their votes are needed now but just you wait.
Fhirst amendment shmerscht amendment
I’ve been hoping Disney will come up with some masterful strategy to win the war with deathSantis.
I think with Iger back at the helm we could see some action happening against DeSatin and the rest of the Repugnant’s. Let’s hope that Iger sticks it to him.
Disney is highly litigious and will sue him into oblivion. And they’ll make it clear to residents that DeSantis is costing them money by forcing them to sue the state in order to and keep them employed.
My youngest is Trans, and once all this stuff began (from the bathroom bills in 2016 and on), our family has reluctantly taken going back to Disney World off the trip list. I am curious to see the outcome because Disney will do whatever helps Disney’s bottom line. So, if their army of lawyers determine that fighting this is best for capitalism, then that means that supporting LGBTQ+ rights as human beings is now more profitable than squashing them. I cannot think of a more cynical way to show societal progress, but there you have it.
Agreed, I loved Disney World, but I think we gotta boycott Florida from now on 🙁 It’s literally not going to be safe for a lot of people.
I’ll be honest, I’m still shocked Disney came out on the side of the gays, I truly did not figure that upper management would do that…and now they pay for it, sigh.
Right but there’s still people power behind that. Like, if it’s more profitable to side with LGBTQ community then that says that a large portion of Disney’s fanbase supports LGBTQ rights…..just to try to find a silver lining in this horrible mess…
Exactly! Also, the front-facing talent and the thousands of employees across their organization. There are queer people of all kinds, as well as allies, across the Disney juggernaut and that has to be accounted for as well.
My best friend’s child is trans and they live in Florida. It has been a nightmare for them. This man is a disgrace to the human race.
I am so sorry your friend and their family are facing all this so directly. I hope the tides turn soon and they are safe again.
DeSantis claims he is trying to protect while he is actively and intentionally hurting LGBTQ+ kids. It makes my blood boil.
My heart breaks for your friend and her child. It’s absolutely unconscionable what DeSatin is doing to the children of Florida as well as the educational system as well.
If the Floridiots don’t like the curriculum for their children they can choose to homeschool. No one is forcing them to send them to public school.
This publicity stunt will make the property taxes rise for Orlando-area residents, as they are now responsible for the costs of Disney’s roads and infrastructure. I hope that Disney funds ads pointing this out, along with the fact that Republicans claim to be for limited government and corporate “rights”, but then are adding more government.
Not that it will change anything. I live in the Orlando area and the Floridiots are strong. I try not to socialize much after Trump revealed all of the turds.
I think that would be a wonderful tactic for Disney. If the voters are hit with higher property taxes – well money is a great motivator.
As for the Floridiots – yeah – I know of someone who lives there and the poison is strong in that juice they are drinking.
@Seraphina in theory, yes but in Florida? Nope. I live outside Orlando and ppl WORSHIP this man. All DeSantis has to say is “Disney is lying and it’s actually THEIR fault your taxes increased” and they will believe him. You have to remember, facts don’t matter to these ppl.
Not only will Disney point that out but now way DeSantis is going to maintain that infrastructure. People will notice power outages and bad roads.
Not to mention the infrastructure for telecommunications to help support such a massive money making business. This will have ripple effects on almost everything the voters touch on a daily basis.
I live in Florida, in Orlando, and I love it. But I hate the politics of this state. Who could believe there was somebody as evil as Trump out there? And he’s probably going to be running for president in 2024.
I’m hoping his crazy doesn’t work in places like PA, MN, GA, etc. I think he really crossed the line with a lot of things that are visually impactful—empty bookshelves in the classroom look really scary.
Thank God I live in Calif.
None of us are safe A judge in Texas is about to take medication abortions away from the entire country.
If they federally ban abortion, blue states will theoretically be on the chopping block as well. Governor Healey has said she will refuse to enforce a federal ban and seems pretty confident that would be an effectively combative approach but who knows? Scary times we live in.
@May AMEN. We pay for it (property taxes!!!) but we get what we pay for, IMO. Cali girl all the way.
I have felt like a raging looney for a few years now screaming at the top of my lungs THIS GUY IS WORSE!” (Even though that seemed…. Impossible)- and here we are. I live in Orlando and can tell you that MANY people here support/worship this guy- despite what he is doing to their schools and their wallets (ETC). And when I say they worship this dude…. I’m not exaggerating for effect. It is sick and REALLY HAPPENING. I wish I could say otherwise
Disney controlled the area because it kept regular taxpayers from having to foot the bill for the most part. Removing it will now make that county financially responsible for it.
Companies will either choose to let this happen or they’ll move. I feel about them the same way I feel about people who have the means to get away from these states. At this point, the writing is on the wall. With the courts, the red states are going to influence law as much as they can by simply test driving the things in their states and then using cases to move things to the Supreme Court. If you choose to live in these states, your tax dollars are helping fund their political maneuvering. Simple as that. Be realistic about what that means.
Unfortunately these Republicans know that and legislate roadblocks to keep people who are already in poverty even more locked into these states, where they will suffer the most.
Also Disney wanted to be able to make sure the roads surrounding the park were “Disney” quality. He saw the tacky stuff and cheap motels surrounding Disneyworld in Anaheim and didn’t want the same in Florida. Note: I’ve never been to Disneyworld, this is just what I’ve heard.
But the problem for DeSantis is that within this district, Disney was paying for a lot of things that local government usually does, as well as maintaining things at a higher level than usual. My understanding is that Disney put poison pills into the contact, meaning that local taxpayers will have to reimburse Disney for a lot of what they’ve spent. My guess is DeSantis thinks he can demonize the Orlando area to win more support in the rest of the state.
People in poverty have the excuse of poverty. People who are middle class or otherwise are a different story. All of these parents with LGBT+ children and daughters complaining about red state laws, I’m just like…this is a gamble. This is a gamble, and your children are the ones paying the price if you lose. As are the rest of us who get dragged along if these bans ever go national. Be honest about what the worst case scenario is here because there’s a lot of people who are going to be hurt if it goes that direction.
Disneyland is in Anaheim, Disneyworld is in Orlando (and is much larger than ‘land). The area around Disneyland isn’t bad, it’s the area around Knott’s Berry Farm in Buena Park that’s really sketchy.
Disney, Universal and Legoland should up sticks and move all their operations out of Florida. Hassle? Yes. Expensive? Yes. But it’s the right thing to do. Stop rewarding Ron Desantis with your presence. Stop rewarding the FL state government with your revenue.
They can’t move. It would be a tens of billions dollar project and Disney doesn’t have that kind of money, even if there were enough empty land somewhere. Also, they’d never get the environmental clearance to rebuild anywhere in the US.
That’ it. Florida allowed them a whole lot of leeway to build what they did in a place that was environmentally unsound for them to do so. I’m really surprised the whole thing hasn’t fallen into a giant sinkhole.
They’re also very limited in where they can go where the weather would be nice year round. A lot of Florida’s wealth is simply a matter of geographical advantage, though we’ll see how that goes as climate change worsens.
People just need to start voting with their money. If you can’t leave the state financially, that’s one thing, but you can definitely choose where you buy your goods and go on vacation. You can choose not to take jobs that require you to move to red states. I stopped visiting red states outside of work requirements after 2016. Now I’m starting to track where certain things I purchase have their headquarters. They don’t get my money if they want to try to destroy my rights in different states.
Disney was in the process of moving most of the LA-based operations from California and they’ve put a halt to it, in part because no one wanted to go (can you imagine how bad Florida is that are willing to lose your job to avoid moving there?). Disney is a really smart company, you can bet DeSatan, as he’s known in Orlando, has pissed off the wrong company. Some people are regarding this as a face saving measure for Desantis, but I’m a little worried about how things are going to go. Apparently while the board doesn’t have control over the creative process, they have the power to withhold approval for certain infrastructure related things. They can also raise taxes so Disney Vacation Club owners are concerned as well. Which is ironic considering all the old geezers who own DVC and probably vote red.
I work with Disney and I’m in the parks about once a month, in part for work but also because they’re just fun. Disney is a very gay-friendly company. They were the first major company to offer partner benefits decades ago. I’m hoping that Disney is quietly thinking of ways to stick it to desantis. Their lawyers are scary and they have very deep pockets.
Between this “SAVE OUR CHILDREN FROM THE GAYS” BS and the anti-drag bill in TN, it’s pretty clear that this is the Rethuglican’s new culture war; their new wedge issue. They got what they wanted with abortion–they punished women the way they intended–now it’s time to come for the LGBTQ community. It’s pathetic and predictable but also, so incredibly dangerous. The GOP is simply hellbent on further oppressing already marginalized communities. That’s their modus operandi–nothing more, nothing less.
I went down the Florida rabbit hole last weekend, and it’s insane what’s going on. All these ludicrous bills being introduced are indeed OTT ridiculous, but with a purpose. While we’re throwing our hands up in the air with incredulity, courts, councils and committees are being stacked. It’s a full-on assault.
And DeSantis won his reelection – easily. This is an issue for the people of Florida. They elected this man TWICE.
It’s so ridiculous, I refuse to go to FL and give them and him my hard earned dollars. I am so glad I’m in my safe California bubble, expensive yeah, but the government actually wants to protect me and doesn’t actively want to harm me.
I’m thankful I make enough to live very comfortably here. I never plan on leaving! Plus our weather is better than swampy FL 💁🏼♂️
I hope the House of Mouse kicks back at Desantis hard.
Release the lawyers.
I’d never go to Disney parks due to I’m broke. But Desantis is a tyrant.
What happened to society that things are so US vs. THEM and it keeps getting worse.
The only thing I like about Desantis is he really gets under Trumps skin.
Believe it or not DeSantis book is killing it.Scary times
What are people’s predictions here.Miami and Tampa are really beginning to explode with high paying tech and Finance jobs One tech company is coming to Miami with the promise of like over 2000 jobs average pay 140k.With these right winged politics will this growth continue or will people from New York and Cali get enough of this insanity and say enough of Florida
I can’t speak for Cali and NY but I really don’t see a lot of people from a blue state like Massachusetts moving to FL for jobs. The quality of life is just so much better here and who the f*ck wants to live in a state where marijuana isn’t legal LOL. Like, I’m gonna go back to buying from a dealer and hiding my weed instead of just driving 10 min to the dispensary?? Nah, kid. Hard pass.
And I understand that just picking up and moving isn’t easy for most people and blue states tend to be very expensive to live in, but I could never go from 44 years in a blue state to suddenly living in a red state. Just too regressive.
@juli8574 One of my husband’s friends is moving his family from NY to Miami for a very lucrative finance job and my husband who is job hunting has taken some calls for Miami-based financial positions. I had to explain to him (he doesn’t pay attention to politics) how it would be a cold day in hell before we move there. Other than the politics, the best argument for his purposes is that the cost of private schooling so your kid could get an actual well-rounded education and not have to be impacted by DeSantis’ harmful bills would likely eat up any bump in salary. That and the fact that Miami real estate continues to be bonkers expensive and we moved out of NY to get away from an insane cost of living.
DeSantis indicated yesterday that he seems to think his board will have control over content of Disney productions, like films that feature LGBTQ characters (Lightyear, Strange World). Let him try. Disney does not produce its films in Florida; he has no control over what they do elsewhere. Disney is also highly litigious and WINS. The lawsuits this will generate will bankrupt the state quickly, in addition to the new cost to taxpayers for Disney’s infrastructure.
As for Don’t Say Gay, a clause in that law allows ANY individual to dictate what is said or not said in ANY classroom so, if DeSantis’s constituent Ben Shapiro complains that his kid’s gay teacher is wearing a wedding ring and that teacher let 6 year old Heather say she has 2 mommies and he doesn’t want his brat exposed to that, the school will have to silence Heather, remove the teacher’s ring, and discipline the teacher for letting Heather speak. And no other parent can counter that.
DeSantis is pretty much running Florida as Ben Shapiro orders.
The level of disdain I have for this moronic lump is stratospheric, but I am also anticipating what his future looks like if he has the stupidity to try to take on the House of Mouse! They have been dealing with these would be dictators for a VERY long time, both in FLA and CA. They have VERY good lawyers, and VERY deep pockets. I think in RDS’s case he thinks he is elevating his political status with this hateful posturing, when in fact I predict that HoM will bury him deep eventually, and his over-weaning ambition will come to naught…..dust to dust! Next to tRump, it couldn’t happen to a more deserving oil stain.
I think you’re right. I really do think that what he’s doing might fly in Florida but elsewhere, he’s screwed. I despise this pile of crap.
Search New College of Florida board change.
The school has long been a haven for non-maga thought and people.
DeSantis expanded the board, installed his people, voted the old president out, placed his guy there. Guess what type of person the new school president is?
If corporations are people (and I hate that argument, but it is considered valid), isn’t the Santa’s violating their first amendment right? How Is he getting away with this censorship? This is government retaliation against free speech
He gets away with it because he has many supporters who want this and keep him in office.
Looks like Florida keeps voting for a Mussolini 2.0
How is Disney suddenly the voice of the rebellion? Maybe absorbing Star Wars fundamentally changed their corporate vibe.
I am a native Floridian but this needs to come back and bite the state economically .This is just messed up.But on a positive note I don’t think DeSantis will have much appeal on a national scale
DeathSantis is so much worse than the Disney. I just saw on the news yesterday they’re trying to dismantle the Democratic Party in Florida. Of course, no talk of dismantling the repugs. And the empty library shelves and actual execution of don’t say gay are way worse than the news shared. For example, if a child has two moms or two dads, they’re basically not allowed to talk about them. If they mention their parents are gay, they’ve got to be referred to the school psychologist. I hate this state so much, cannot wait to get out from under DeathSantis.
This “person” hates diversity and inclusivity! Not only is he doing this because the NEW-AND- IMPROVED DISNEY (I.M.P.H.O.) represents ALL PERSONS (not only within the U.S.A., but around the globe), but he is more than likely A REACTIONARY who favors the OLD DISNEY from long ago. 😫 [Sidebar=> He is NO DOUBT one of the EVILS who is covertly against Halle Bailey being cast in the live-action “Little Mermaid” as Princess Ariel!] He wants to become POT-ASS so badly. Watch out for him, people! 😨😱
Disney has been choking this state to death for a century and is currently choking cinema and other art to death. The Republicans have also been choking Florida to death for a long time and are now trying to choke the country to death. So here is what I have to say about this: Bite each other’s dicks off! If Disney and the Republican party mutually destroyed each other, what a wonderful world it would be.
Didn’t there use to be controversy around Disney? But they are the good guys now? I feel like compared to Disney, DeSantis may be a lesser evil? Why did a corporation govern itself anyways?
I just read a new poll that said DeSantis lost his lead over Trump already after the bump winning his election gave him. I do fear Trump will be the candidate. Such a shit situation that the only two choices are “worst” or “worst.”
He looks like my cousin Dan.