Life

Moon Knight star Oscar Isaac urges Disney to oppose Florida’s “insane” ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill

By Sam Damshenas

23rd March 2022

Oscar Isaac has condemned Florida’s barbaric Parental Rights in Education bill – more commonly known as ‘Don’t Say Gay’.

The bill seeks to restrict “classroom discussion about sexual orientation or gender identity” in elementary schools.

With the bill headed to conservative governor Ron DeSantis, LGBTQ+ advocates have denounced the law, its political sponsors and the companies backing the legislation.

Due to their silence and past donations to the bill’s sponsors, Disney was one of the companies that came under fire.

After their CEO Bob Chapek expressed “unwavering commitment to the LGBTQ+ community” in a company-wide letter, employees accused the company of censoring LGBTQ+ stories in Pixar films.

Chapek later apologised to Disney’s queer staff, saying the backlash has “helped me better understand how painful our silence was.”

“It is clear that this is not just an issue about a bill in Florida, but instead yet another challenge to basic human rights,” he explained, before revealing that Disney would be “increasing their support” for advocacy groups that are fighting against “similar legislation in other states.”

“We are hard at work creating a new framework for our political giving that will ensure our advocacy better reflects our values. And today, we are pausing all political donations in the state of Florida pending this review,” he continued.

“But I know there is so much more work to be done. I am committed to this work and to you all, and will continue to engage with the LGBTQ+ community so that I can become a better ally.”

Despite his apology, Disney employees from all corners of the United States staged walkouts and protests on 22 March.

Dune star Isaac, who is about to make his Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in Moon Knight, was asked how he feels about the aforementioned protests while promoting the Disney Plus series.

“I guess my comment would be [starts singing] gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gayyyyyy!” he said/sang.

“Yeah, it’s an absolutely ridiculous law. It’s insane. It’s insanity. And I hope that Disney as a company comes out as forcefully as possible against this idea. It’s astounding that it even exists in this country.”

Isaac joins stars such as Ariana Grande, Gabrielle Union, Kerry Washington, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mark Ruffalo, Raven Symoné and Shawn Mendes to publicly denounce the bill.

At the premiere for her Disney Plus film Cheaper by the Dozen, Union told Variety: “Somebody asked me, ‘Are you disappointed?’ I’m disappointed when my order isn’t right at In-N-Out.

“I don’t even think that’s a word that you could use for something like this, where children’s lives are literally hanging in the balance. We need to own that if you truly are taking stands against hate and oppression, you should not fund hate and oppression. Period. The damage is done.”