Disney Funds Pro-Life Florida Politicians, Pro-Abortion Group Claims

A pro-abortion women’s group is lashing out at Disney following the company’s suspension of all political donations in Florida over the state’s “Parental Rights” bill.

UltraViolet’s director of Reproductive Rights campaigns, Sonja Spoo, heavily criticized Disney CEO Bob Chapek in a Monday statement that argued “it is long past time that Disney paused its political contributions to radical right-wing politicians pushing a vicious anti-LGBTQ and anti-woman agenda so contrary to the company’s stated values.”

Spoo cited the organization’s new report, conducted with the Sustainable Investments Institute, alleging that 69% of Disney’s political donations went to pro-life lawmakers in Florida and that Disney has given more than $166,000 in political donations to Florida.

“Simply pausing donations to all politicians instead of the ones pushing this radical agenda – embodied by the Florida’s ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill and 15 week abortion ban – misses the point,” said Spoo.

The Ultra Violet spokeswoman described abortion as “a bellwether issue” that “often also indicates a politician’s support for other extreme and dangerous bills.”

“If you support abortion bans — you are more likely to support attacks on LGBTQ+ kids and more likely to support measures to disenfranchise Black, Indigenous, and other people of color at the ballot box,” said Spoo. “The legislation passed in Florida are more examples of how these sorts of cruel bills move together and reinforce one another — and how they are all supported by the same people. ”

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told The Daily Wire on Monday afternoon that “no matter what woke corporations do,” DeSantis will not compromise “when it comes to protecting children and parents’ rights.”

“Progressives know that their priorities (including K-3 sexuality and gender instruction) are repulsive to most Americans, which is why they pay left-wing PR firms to use corporate media to shake down elected officials,” she said. “It’s ironic that so-called progressives want corporations to pour money into politics in order to overrule legislation passed by our legitimately elected representatives.”

“Nobody elected Disney,” added Pushaw. “No amount of money would convince the governor to change his position.”

Critics of Florida’s parental notification legislation have most notably taken issue with HB 1557’s statement that “classroom instruction by school personnel or third parties on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.”

Students in kindergarten are typically five years old, while third graders generally are eight or nine years old.

Liberal media outlets and reporters call HB 1557 the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” in copy, and critics of the legislation accuse Republicans of endangering LGBTQ youth by outing them to their parents or preventing them from learning about their sexuality.

DeSantis and his team have repeatedly pushed back on this framing.

Nowhere in the legislation is the word “gay” mentioned, though the word “parent” is mentioned 32 times and the word “parental” is mentioned eight times. The legislation heavily focuses on parental notification and parental awareness of what children are being taught or exposed to in school.

Disney did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Daily Wire.

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