DeSantis revokes Disney’s special status after ‘Don’t Say Gay’ opposition

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — A whirlwind week for Walt Disney Co. came to a close Friday when Gov. Ron DeSantis signed legislation that could spell the end of special privileges for the entertainment giant as punishment for speaking out against a new law restricting how sexual orientation and gender identity are addressed in public schools.

Requested by the Republican governor, the two bills punishing Disney were made public on Tuesday and signed into law by DeSantis roughly 77 hours later following a special legislative session originally called to address congressional redistricting.

DeSantis made clear Friday that the moves, targeting Disney’s self-governing status and a special carve-out in another law, were retribution for the company fighting against Florida’s recently enacted “Parental Rights in Education” bill, branded as “Don’t Say Gay” by opponents.

He specifically took aim at Disney pushing to repeal the law.

“You’re a corporation based in Burbank, California, and you’re going to martial your economic might to attack the parents of my state? We view that as a provocation, and we’re going to fight back against that,” DeSantis said during an event at a Hialeah Gardens charter school.

The more high-profile proposal signed by DeSantis, FL SB 4-C, calls for eliminating six special districts in Florida, including the Reedy Creek Improvement District that has since the 1960s granted Disney privileges like the ability to build its own structures without seeking approval from a local planning commission and collect taxes and issue bonds.

The districts will have a year to transfer the powers they hold to the municipalities they serve, but the special districts can also return to the Legislature to re-establish their special status.

In taking up the legislation, state Republicans contended that Reedy Creek gave Disney too much authority to self-govern, frequently citing the company’s ability to construct its own nuclear plant on the site as an example.

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Democrats raised alarms about the unknowns behind the proposal, including some $1 billion in company debt and questions over who would assume control of services like fire departments and water, which could be left up to four municipalities.

Yet DeSantis downplayed those concerns Friday, claiming that Disney will “pay more taxes” as a result of the bill.

“No individual or no company in Florida is treated this way,” DeSantis said. “And it’s not right to have dissimilar treatment.”

Florida Republicans leveled the punishments on Disney this week largely over the company’s opposition to the parental rights bill that DeSantis signed last month, which prohibits educators from leading classroom instruction on sexual orientation and gender identity for students in kindergarten through third grade. LGBTQ advocates say the measure could lead students to increased bullying or even suicide.

Disney at first was silent on the parental rights bill and drew criticism from some employees, but eventually grew to openly oppose the law and suspended making campaign donations in Florida as a response. The day DeSantis signed the bill, Disney officials made a bold statement that it “should never have passed” and that “our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed.”

The other bill signed by DeSantis, FL SB 6-C, repeals a carve-out tucked into a law passed last year that exempted Disney and other theme parks from a law cracking down on tech companies, a policy that is currently being challenged in federal court.

DeSantis claimed Friday that this provision was “snuck into” the bill, but records previously reported show that the governor’s own staff helped write it to benefit Disney.

“Gov. DeSantis claims that he hates special privileges and special perks, except he actually helps facilitate them all the time, so he’s a giant hypocrite,” state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith (D-Orlando) said Friday. “It’s when they take away your campaign contributions and speak out against your extreme agenda is when you no longer support them.”

Disney has not commented about how the Florida Legislature worked to dismantle its special privileges through Reedy Creek this week.

Aside from the “Don’t Say Gay” criticisms, DeSantis said Friday that he is also against recent statements by Disney executives discussing efforts to include more diverse characters in their content. He cited recorded Zoom calls from the company that were reported by Christopher Rufo, a conservative activist who attended Friday’s bill signing and was praised by DeSantis for “raising the alarm” about critical race theory in schools.

“I’m just not comfortable having that type of agenda get special treatment in my state,” DeSantis said. “I just can’t do it. “