New controversy in DeSantis-Disney war over child sexualization

The war between Ron DeSantis and Disney has taken a new turn. The entertainment company's CEO noted that the Florida governor's accusation that Disney is "sexualizing children" is "preposterous and inaccurate." In response, DeSantis' team uploaded a video to social media in which several Disney executives speak openly about the inclusion of queer messaging and even a "secret gay agenda" in its contents.

A "preposterous and inaccurate" notion

In an interview with CNBC, Iger, who has just announced that he will continue at Disney until 2026, addressed the ongoing controversy with DeSantis. In addition to the litigation in court over Disney World's property in Florida, there have been reproaches between the two. The issue of sexualization of children is one of the main focuses of the conflict, with the governor of The Sunshine State accusing the company of promoting this in its films, shows and theme parks. Iger strongly denied these accusations:

We are a pre-eminent entertainer in the world, and we are proud of our track record there. The notion that Disney is in any way sexualizing our children quite frankly is preposterous and inaccurate.

Disney has positioned against Florida's state law which prohibits, among other things, drag shows in the presence of minors, which prompted DeSantis to respond by pointing out that Disney is a "woke company" and that it "really embraced the idea of introducing sexualized content into programming for young children."

DeSantis responds to drag fairy godmothers, "not at all secret gay agenda"

To dismantle Iger's words, the video from the conservative candidate's team begins, after the CEO's own statements, with a drag fairy godmother welcoming the children. It then includes excerpts of statements from senior management talking about the need to add queer messaging to content and how to do it. For example, Karey Burke's statements in 2022 noted that Disney had to face that younger generations are "queerer" and this type of messaging is how to target that audience. Burke generated a lot of controversy for his statements that were not shown in the video saying that "by the end of 2022, roughly half of the characters in our animated films will be LGBTQ+ and ethnic minority."

The video also includes an executive producer thanking management for welcoming her "not at all secret gay agenda" or a production coordinator noting that those in charge were "really open to exploring queer stories" for which it is necessary to create "canonical trans, asexual or bisexual people" and give them "stories where they can be their whole selves." Inclusion and Diversity Manager Vivien Ware also has her moment, pointing out that the company's theme parks no longer used to say "ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls," but, "Hello everybody" or, "Hello friends."