How Disney and CEO Bob Chapek made a mess of the company’s reaction to Florida’s

“Disney — they get everything they want,” said Anna Eskamani, a Democratic state representative from Orlando, who can rattle off a list of measures killed or pushed through with the company’s weight, such as an exemption designed for Disney from a 2021 bill that restricted the ability of social media firms to ban political candidates.

So Eskamani and many other lawmakers were surprised when Disney — and its lobbyists — kept quiet as a mouse when state lawmakers started debating a bill to ban discussions about sexual orientation or gender identity in primary school classrooms.

The controversial measure — dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by opponents — was signed into law by Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) this past week, spurring a firestorm of criticism over why Disney didn’t do more.

While Disney is now promising to work to undo the measure, a review of lobbying disclosures found no record of Disney activity on the bill in the House, where the legislation first emerged in January. (Similar records are not maintained in the Senate.) And Disney didn’t publicly speak out against the bill until it was close to final passage.

The ensuing pushback was a stunning blow for one of Florida’s most powerful companies, which for years had proved skilled at navigating cultural war issues with behind-the-scene negotiations and deft signaling of its goals. Now the company faces protests from its own employees, criticism from LGBTQ activists and combative statements from DeSantis, who dismissed concerns from what he called a “woke” Disney.

Disney’s missteps illustrate just how much the political landscape has changed for companies in a country roiled by Black Lives Matter protests and the Jan. 6 insurrection. Disney discovered that the old corporate playbook for avoiding such controversy had been shredded by new customer and employee expectations about how companies should react, along with a fresh willingness from previously business-friendly Republicans to buck corporate wishes.

“It’s pretty rare that Disney in Florida has come up short,” said Aubrey Jewett, a political science professor at the University of Central Florida, who co-authored the book “Politics in Florida.”

But for Disney to lose and for state leaders to appear to relish Disney’s humiliation, he said, “That’s never happened.”

Disney declined to comment for this article. Disney executives described the company’s reactions to the bill on the condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to the media.

The Parental Rights in Education bill was introduced in the Florida state legislature by GOP lawmakers amid a growing nationwide debate about gender identity and schools.

It bans classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity from kindergarten through third grade “in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” The bill also requires parents be told when a child seeks school counseling. DeSantis’s press secretary Christina Pushaw derisively called it “the Anti-Grooming Bill.”

It quickly earned the “Don’t Say Gay” moniker from critics who say it is a cruel law that will harm LGBTQ students and staff. Supporters say it’s about preventing discussions about certain sexuality topics in primary classrooms.

As the bill faced its first vote in Florida’s House, Disney hadn’t publicly addressed the bill.

Instead, Disney lobbyists approached House members on a plan to stop hotels from renting rooms by the hour and consumer data privacy regulations, among other bills during the legislative session, records show.

Records show Disney also lobbied against a House bill that touched on another cultural war issue: the “Stop WOKE Act.”

Depending on the view, that bill is an anti-critical race theory bill targeting corporate diversity training or a bill designed to prevent people from feeling discomfort over discussions of systemic racism or racial discrimination. The Republican sponsor of the bill cited a Disney diversity program called “Reimagine Tomorrow,” according to the Orlando Sentinel.

But Disney did not lobby on HB 1557 — the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” bill, according to disclosure records.

“My gut reaction was this was not a priority for them,” Eskamani said.

However, Disney did speak with the governor’s office about the bill during that time and planned to focus its lobbying efforts on the state Senate, according to a company executive.

Disney is a major donor in Florida politics, donating $4.8 million to lawmakers in the 2020 campaign cycle, according to campaign finance records. Nearly 80 percent of that went to Republicans — and the Orlando Sentinel pointed out Disney had given money to every sponsor and co-sponsor of…