Disney’s Diversity Officially Saved From Ron DeSantis

It seems like it happened a lifetime ago, but just two years ago, The Walt Disney Company was embroiled in a heated battle with Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The trouble began when DeSantis announced the “Parental Rights in Education Bill,” which critics labeled the “Don’t Say Gay Bill.”

Then-Disney CEO Bob Chapek spoke out against the bill — after some severe backlash for first calling it “irrelevant” — and Disney vowed to fight it in court.

Related: Fans Once Again Prove Bob Chapek Knew NOTHING About Disney

From there, the once-cordial relationship turned into an all-out war between the Mouse House and the controversial Florida Governor. DeSantis and the Republican-led Florida state legislature ended up dissolving the Reedy Creek Improvement District, ending Walt Disney World Resort’s right to self-govern.

However, it didn’t turn out very well for the governor. During his fight with Disney, he was also running for President of the United States. His attacks on Disney were used against him by his opponents, claiming that he was against big business. Disney also stopped all political donations in Florida, which affected people on both sides of the aisle.

And now Mr. DeSantis has taken another legal hit in his fight against Disney.

On July 26, a federal judge permanently blocked a key part of DeSantis’s controversial “Stop WOKE Act” — a bill that would ban diversity and race-related training in private business.

According to a report from CNN:

Chief US District Judge Mark Walker issued a two-page order granting a permanent injunction against the law’s workplace training provisions. The order says the law “violates free speech rights under the First and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution.”

Walker first issued the preliminary injunction to block the state from enforcing prohibitions on mandatory workplace activities and trainings in August 2022, saying the act “discriminates on the basis of viewpoint in violation of the First Amendment and is impermissibly vague in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment.”

The judge’s Friday order came after a federal appeals court in March upheld the injunction, agreeing part of the law infringed on employers’ free speech rights.

For years, Disney had four core keys to training its cast members: Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency. Then, in September 2021, Disney added a fifth key: Inclusion. This move caused more conservative fans and followers to claim that Disney was engaging in critical race theory and said they weren’t allowed to do that.

In April 2022, shortly after his fight with Disney began, Governor DeSantis signed the Stop Wrongs to Our Kids and Employees Act, AKA Stop WOKE Act, into law. Disney immediately began to fight the new legislation, saying that the state could not tell private businesses how they were allowed to train their employees.

Related: What Ron DeSantis’s Latest Food Ban Means For Your Disney World Vacation

Governor DeSantis frequently attacked Disney for being “woke,” and his newly appointed Central Florida Tourism Oversight District — which took over for Reedy Creek — tried its hardest to control Disney’s training. The head of the CFTOD, DeSantis loyalist Glenn Gilzean, said that Disney’s DEI was dead on arrival.

However, this new injunction shows that Disney’s DEI training is far from that.

Thankfully, things have cooled down between the two sides, and they are back to a working, albeit icy, relationship. The state recently finalized a deal that will allow Disney to begin its multi-billion dollar Disney World expansion project. It has been reported that Disney is planning on expanding the Magic Kingdom behind Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, and even building a fifth theme park.

The deal went through in June, so no major construction has started yet, but fans are hoping it begins before the end of the year.

Do you support the judge’s decision to block part of the Stop WOKE Act? Let us know in the comments!