In the most recent episode of “Everything Is Stupid,” debate has been raging over a supposedly controversial Florida bill that would prevent teachers from injecting ideas about sexuality to students seven-years-old or under. Democrats and their close friends and allies in the activist media have deceptively referred to the proposed legislation as the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” in the hopes of convincing the public this whole thing is about homophobia and stuff.
The issue became so heated that Disney’s leadership jumped into the fray, hoping to cash in on a quick virtue signal. They publicly denounced the law, claiming it was discriminatory against members of the LGBTQ community. CEO Bob Chapek told shareholders that the company’s decision to stay out of the conversation “didn’t get the job done,” and announced he would be meeting with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to discuss the legislation.
Chapek told CNBC that the company was “opposed to the bill from the outset,” but chose to work “behind the scenes” rather than make a public comment. “We were hopeful that our longstanding relationships with those lawmakers would enable us to achieve a better outcome, but despite weeks of effort we were ultimately unsuccessful,” he added.
On Wednesday, Chapek stated he had a phone conversation with DeSantis, who promised to discuss specific concerns about the law with Disney’s LGBTQ population. He indicated he would ensure the law would not be “weaponized,” according to the Washington Examiner.
“DeSantis committed to me that he wanted to make sure that this law could not be weaponized in any way by individuals in the state or groups in the state to in any way unduly harm or target gay, lesbian, nonbinary, or transgender kids and family,” Chapek said after the phone call. “He was very open to this conversation and finding out what aspects are most concerning.”
DeSantis’ office commented on the phone call and reaffirmed his support of the legislation. “Gov. DeSantis has always been open to hearing from Floridians and having conversations about legislation — as long as those discussions are grounded in facts, not false media narratives,” they said in a statement. “The same Florida parents who take their families to Disney also support parental rights in education, because they do not want their young children exposed to inappropriate content about sex and gender theory.”
The bill has passed both chambers of Florida’s legislature and is awaiting DeSantis’ signature. It prohibits discussions about “sexual orientation and gender identity” from kindergarten through third grade. It empowers parents to file lawsuits against districts that violate the measure.
From the moment the law passed, members of the activist media have been weaponizing the LGBTQ community against the governor and those who support the law. They resorted to their usual modus operandi: Lying their asses off. In one particularly heated exchange, DeSantis humiliated a media activist who referred to the “Don’t Say Gay Bill” during a press conference. He rightly pointed out that the legislation applied only to the youngest of the young in Florida’s classroom, a detail leftists have conveniently left out of the conversation.
Reporter: “Critics call it the Don’t Say Gay bill”
DeSantis: “Does it say that in the bill?”
Reporter: “It bans classroom instruction on sexual identity and gender orientation.”
DeSantis: “For who?… Grades Pre-K through 3.”
pic.twitter.com/gqMiYKyVzg— Greg Price (@greg_price11) March 7, 2022
For its part, Disney signaled that it is satisfied with DeSantis’ explanation of the bill after Chapek’s conversation with him. It does not seem they intend to keep fighting against the measure in the public arena. But much of this could have been avoided had they simply read the seven-page bill, and it does not appear they even bothered to take this step.
But what is this conversation really about?
The left has to know that most parents, regardless of political affiliation, aren’t going to bat an eye at a law that prohibits the teaching of mature material to kids under the age of seven. This is not exactly the best hill for Democrats to die on at the moment.
However, the manufactured furor over the bill does serve as a welcome distraction, doesn’t it? Currently, most Americans are concerned about inflation, empty shelves, and other economic issues. They are worried about jobs. People are far more concerned about feeding their families than they are about whether it’s important for young children to be taught about sexuality.
Unfortunately, the issues on which most are focused are not exactly working in the Democrats’ favor. Indeed, these are the problems that will contribute to their likely defeat in the upcoming midterm elections. It can be no wonder, then, that they seem intent on keeping people’s focus off these issues. Unfortunately for them, it’s not going to work.
