As the war between Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Mickey Mouse continues to intensify, Disney is doubling down on its support for LGBT rights with a major announcement. For the next two years, the “largest LGBT+ conference in the world” will be hosted at Walt Disney World in central Florida, in direct defiance of DeSantis’ crusade to punish the company for its pro-LGBT stances. The Out & Equal Workplace summit, which is expected to draw over 5,000 attendees and is sponsored by companies like Apple, Walmart, and Amazon, markets itself as “the preferred place to network and share strategies that create inclusive workplaces.” DeSantis has repeatedly railed against “woke capitalism,” accusing companies that utilize DEI trainings of attempting to “advance woke ideology through its employee ranks—and virtue signal in the process.” Disney’s decision to host the conference marks the latest salvo in a beef that began when the company spoke out against DeSantis’ “Don't Say Gay” bill, which sought to limit instruction on LGBT issues in schools. The feud culminated in the Florida governor’s decision to dissolve the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special jurisdiction that allowed Disney a large measure of self-governance over its resorts and properties.
