As part of its embrace of the LGBT agenda, the Walt Disney Co. is no longer referring to “ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls” in its theme park greetings.
Vivian Ware, Disney’s diversity and inclusion manager, revealed the change during a “Reimagine Tomorrow” meeting whose video was obtained and shared on Twitter by journalist Christopher Rufo.
Ware said the company already had “removed all the gendered greetings in relationship to our live spiels.”
Now, she said, Disney theme park employees — who are called “cast members” — are supposed to greet people by saying “Hello everybody” or “Hello friends.”
In addition, all recorded messages throughout the parks are being scrubbed of gender-specific phrases. Instead, they will use terms such as “dreamers of all ages,” Ware said.
She said that even though “someone might be, in our interpretation, might be presenting as female,” that person “may not want to be called ‘princess.'”
“Let’s think differently about how do we really engage with our guests in a meaningful and inclusive way that makes it magical and memorable for everyone,” she said.
SCOOP: Disney diversity and inclusion manager Vivian Ware says the company has eliminated all mentions of “ladies,” “gentlemen,” “boys,” and “girls” in its theme parks in order to create “that magical moment” for children who do not identify with traditional gender roles. pic.twitter.com/OWsGTUoeCA
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022
These changes and plans to cater more to the LGBT community come amid tensions that have arisen between Florida and Disney over the Parental Rights in Education legislation.
While critics have labeled it the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, the legislation has nothing to do with banning people from saying “gay” in Florida.
Rather, it says 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.”
Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the bill into law on Monday, saying in a statement, “Parents have every right to be informed about services offered to their child at school, and should be protected from schools using classroom instruction to sexualize their kids as young as 5 years old.”
Since Disney World is in Florida, the entertainment giant has faced pressure from its LGBT employees to oppose the bill, Newsweek reported. CEO Bob Chapek did so earlier this month.
The company took things a step further after DeSantis signed it into law, saying, “Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts.”
Statement from The Walt Disney Company on signing of Florida legislation: pic.twitter.com/UVI7Ko3aKS
— Walt Disney Company (@WaltDisneyCo) March 28, 2022
Behind closed doors, Disney executives also appear to be pushing the LGBT agenda on employees and consumers.
In another video of the “Reimagine Tomorrow” meeting shared by Rufo, Nadine Smith of Equality Florida — described as “Disney’s activism partner” — told LGBT employees that DeSantis wants to “erase you,” “criminalize your existence” and “take your kids.”
SCOOP: Disney’s activism partner Nadine Smith of Equality Florida tells LGBTQ employees that @GovRonDeSantis and @ChristinaPushaw want to “erase you, “criminalize your existence,” and “take your kids”—a wild conspiracy theory that Republicans want to kidnap gay people’s children. pic.twitter.com/Ger3a2xekI
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022
Rufo also shared a clip in which Disney executive producer Latoya Raveneau explained that her team has implemented a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” and is regularly “adding queerness” to programming aimed at children.
SCOOP: I’ve obtained video from inside Disney’s all-hands meeting about the Florida parental rights bill, in which executive producer Latoya Raveneau says her team has implemented a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” and is regularly “adding queerness” to children’s programming. pic.twitter.com/eJnZMpKIXT
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@realchrisrufo) March 29, 2022
Many on Twitter questioned Disney’s new direction.
What about for the people who do identify as boy and girl? My child will never watch another Disney film or tv show again and that’s sad. We’ll never go to Disney World either.
— Taylor Shipley ?? (@TaylorAShipley) March 29, 2022
In their efforts to “include” everyone the exclude “ladies”, “gentlemen”, “boys” & “girls”. In other words, they exclude 97% to include 3%.
— Patrick G Hayes (@PatrickgHayes) March 30, 2022
With pro-LGBT moves such as dropping the use of “boys and girls” and fiercely opposing Florida’s law to protect young children from inappropriate sexual content, Disney has shown it’s willing to risk alienating families who don’t share those views.
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
