Walt Disney locks horns with Florida guv over law about teaching sexual orientation, gender identity in schools

The Walt Disney Co. filed a lawsuit against Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, claiming that the governor has been responsible for a “targeted campaign of government retaliation” that is endangering the operations of the media and entertainment behemoth.

The lawsuit, which was filed on Wednesday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, claims that DeSantis’ action “endangers its economic future in the region and violates its constitutional rights.”

Apart from DeSantis, Disney has named The Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s administrator, five new board members, and acting secretary of the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity in the lawsuit.

The lawsuit came after a year-long conflict between DeSantis and Disney over his “Parental Rights in Education” bill, which forbids teaching on sexual orientation and gender identity in schools.

DeSantis aimed to take over the Reedy Creek Improvement District (RCID), a governing body that looks after the area where the Walt Disney World resort is located, after Disney came out against the proposed law.

DeSantis successfully took over the RCID and transformed it into the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. The governor suggested that he would levy charges on Disney’s hotels or even build a prison near to Walt Disney World as he selected five people to take the place of the RCID’s elected members.

But Disney pulled a fast one on that strategy, depriving the RCID board of a significant amount of its authority.

The new head of the reorganised board labelled this decision “shameful.” DeSantis introduced a new legislative initiative earlier this month that would nullify Disney’s last-ditch effort to deprive his state-appointed board of authority of its authority.

Disney claims that the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District’s Wednesday decision to cancel its development contracts is “patently retaliatory, anti-business, and unconstitutional.”

The complaint alleged that Disney voiced its position over state legislation and was then penalised by the state as a result.

DeSantis’s office released a statement saying that the governor is “unaware of any legal right that a company has to operate its own government or maintain special privileges not held by other businesses in the state.”

The statement continued, “This lawsuit is another another regrettable illustration of their desire to frustrate the decision of the Florida voters and act illegally.

Disney emphasised the importance of Florida in its case by pointing out that it paid $1.1 billion in state and local taxes to the state last year and is one of its largest employers, with 75,000 workers there.

The lawsuit reads, “Disney regrets that it has come to this.” “However, having exhausted efforts to seek a resolution, the company is left with no choice but to file this lawsuit to protect its cast members, guests, and local development partners from a relentless campaign to weaponize government power against Disney in retaliation for expressing a political viewpoint distasteful to some state officials,” the lawsuit reads.

The lawsuit asserts that Disney “knows that it is fortunate to have the resources to take a stand against the state’s retaliation — a stand that smaller businesses and individuals might not be able to take when the state comes after them for expressing their own views.”

“The government cannot punish you for speaking your thoughts in America,” lawsuit reads.

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