Staff members are staging walkouts from "the happiest place on earth" this week in response to public backlash over Disney's silence on Florida's "Don't Say Gay" law.

While Disney's CEO Bob Chapek issued a late response addressing the bill, after an internal staff email labeled "lukewarm" by many, Disney's LGBTQ+ employees say the corporation's initial silence is the final straw.

After a surge of walkouts and employees speaking out via Twitter, Chapek spoke out. He announced that Disney was stopping all political donations in Florida. He excused Disney's silence, stating that "we chose not to take a public position on it because we thought we could be more effective working behind the scenes, engaging directly with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle."

Employees calling out the statements as weak pandering include Ben Siemon, an actor and writer associated with the Disney+ cartoon Ducktails. Siemon tweeted, "Please don't be fooled by this half-hearted triage. The bill was allowed to pass with no public [opposition] from Disney, and they still intend on funding all the politicians that passed it... LGBT kids are going to be left alone and scared and hurt by this bill."

For many, this action comes years too late and does not do enough. Now, Disney employees are staging fifteen-minute walkouts and sickouts in protest of the organization.

HRC reaction
They're not the only ones to protest the company. The Human Rights Campaign has announced it is no longer accepting money from Disney in response to the company's involvement in the legislation.

A statement from the organization said, "The Human Rights Campaign will not accept this money from Disney until we see them build on their public commitment and work with LGBTQ+ advocates to ensure that dangerous proposals, like Florida's Don't Say Gay or Trans bill, don't become dangerous laws, and if they do, to work to get them off the books."

Queer pandering
While Disney does capitalize off Pride, fans now note that these profits are going right into the pockets of politicians who are actively working to silence the LGBTQ+ community. Furthermore, the recent scandal highlighted just how often Disney queer-baits fans.

For years the company has queer-coded villains — from Ursula (whose character design was inspired by BIPOC drag queens) to Scar to Hades — engaging their LGBTQ+ audiences with just a taste of inclusion. Newer films like Luca and Turning Red also have LGBTQ+ undertones, but producers have disavowed them publicly, shutting down rumors that the stories had anything to do with queerness.

A new trend of princess stories without male love interests has also sparked speculation that Disney may be pandering to sapphic audiences. The hashtag #GiveElsaAGirlfriend was trending on Twitter after the news that Frozen was getting a sequel, and other Queer women found familiar themes in movies like Moana and Raya and the Last Dragon.

Disney has made news among LGBTQ+ supporters in recent years for its efforts at representation. For example, in 2016 Finding Dory made history with Lesbian representation, although it only included two unnamed background characters who appeared on screen for a few seconds.

In 2020 Pixar introduced the first Lesbian character, Spector, the cyclops cop. However, her identity was only mentioned in passing, as the company did not feel ready to show same-sex affection on screen.

LGBTQIA+ employees at Pixar and their allies confirmed in a statement that "nearly every moment of overtly Gay affection is cut at Disney's behest, regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar." The employees claim that the shards of LGBTQ+ inclusion, which have been labeled "Queer bait" by some fans, are a result of intense editing by executives.

Animators speaking out
On the small screen, Disney has made strides with LGBTQ representation. The hit cartoon The Owl House is the first to have a Queer relationship at the forefront. The show centers on Luz, a 14-year-old Bisexual witch in training, and her Lesbian girlfriend, Amity.

While fans were ecstatic to see Queer representation in the Magic Kingdom, creator Dana Terrace, who is also Bisexual, admitted that the studio was not keen on her making Luz Bi.

"I was very open about my intention to put queer kids in the main cast. I'm a horrible liar, so sneaking it in would've been hard, haha," Terrace said in a tweet. "When we were greenlit, I was told by certain Disney leadership that I could NOT represent any form of bi or gay relationship on the Channel."

Another animating icon, Alex Hirsch, who rose to fame with his hit Disney Channel cartoon Gravity Falls, added to Terrace's statement, writing, "Back when I made [Gravity Falls], Disney FORBADE me from any explicit LGBTQ+ rep. Apparently, 'happiest place on earth' meant 'straightest.'"

Terrace is now speaking out against the company. On Twitter, she released a video describing the new legislation as "a bill that effectively tells LGBTQ+ kids 'you don't exist, you don't deserve to exist, and you shouldn't even be talked about, shh.'"

She then characterized the company-wide response Disney sent out: "Disney is not going to change doing all this, we're not going to stop giving money to these people, but here are a bunch of flowery and compassionate words to shut you up."

"No one even told me I had the option of existing," Terrace said about growing up Queer. "And man, I know I got bills to pay, but working at this company has made me so distraught, and I hate having moral quandaries about how I feed myself and how I support my loved ones."

Disney pulls plug on only LGBTQ+ TV production
Fans of The Owl House have also noted that Disney decided to pull the plug on the show, canceling it after just two-plus seasons. "The only decent queer content I've seen lately was The Owl House, and you're canceling it despite a loving fanbase that rallied to show support for the show. Nothing the fans could do was gonna save the show once the girl [protagonist] got a girlfriend," Twitter user @wardoftheshire posted after Disney released news that the show was officially ending.

The "Don't Say Gay" bill was officially signed into law by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis on Monday, March 28. Hours later, Disney released a statement condemning the law and vowing to help repeal it.

"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. 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," the statement said.