The burgeoning battle in Florida between that state legislature’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill and the state’s biggest employer The Walt Disney Co. may get much more personal after one of Walt Disney’s heirs recently made it public that they are transgender.
Charlee Disney, 30, made the announcement at a gala for the Human Rights Campaign, at which time they also handed over a $250,000 matching grant to the organization.
Disney came out privately to their family four years ago, they told The Los Angeles Times. But they felt much more good could be done by making their transition public.
“I feel like I don’t do very much to help. I don’t call senators or take action,” they said. “I felt like I could be doing more.”
Disney discussed with the newspaper the obstacles they faced growing up, obstacles that are still in place for transgender youth.
“I had very few openly gay role models,” they said. “And I certainly didn't have any trans or nonbinary role models. I didn't see myself reflected in anyone, and that made me feel like there was something wrong with me.”
Disney spoke about the abnormally high suicide rate and depression suffered by the LGBTQ youth in America. “Then to put something like this law on top of that? They can't learn about their community and their history at school, or play sports or use the bathroom they want to use?” they said.
Charlee’s father Roy P. Disney, grandson of The Walt Disney Co.’s co-founder, also made his support for his child public, sending an email to The Washington Times that read, in part, “Equality matters deeply to us, especially because our child, Charlee, is transgender and a proud member of the LGBTQ+ community.”
In the email, he also described his reaction to the passing and signing of Florida’s “Parental Rights in Education” bill, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by critics, as “heartbroken.”
The bill prohibits discussing sexual orientation and identity through third grade in the state, and additionally prohibits the discussion in higher grades if done in what it describes vaguely as “a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate.”
The company released an official statement on Twitter after the bill’s passage and after receiving criticism from the LGBTQ community for their silence.
“The fight isn't over,” Roy Disney said. “And we are determined to do everything we can to stop this from happening in other places.”
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