Growing up, I viewed a lot of Disney movies. They made me laugh, they made me cry, they taught me life lessons, and they gave me heroines in which I could see parts of myself and sometimes even villains that I related to more.
They were a regular staple growing up in my parent’s house.
As an adult I still enjoy Disney content, but as a queer person I feel especially wounded and wronged by this company and the legacy it is choosing to leave behind.
In funding and supporting the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida, all you’re doing is causing more harm to vulnerable and scared queer children. Instead of protecting trans children, instead of allowing queer children to see themselves reflected in media and books as something other than the monster or the villain you are ensuring that more harm will come to children.
I am completely disgusted with you.
When I was a kid, I realized when I started having crush on fictional female characters that I wasn’t straight. I was terrified and thought I was a horrible immoral person simply for being born the way that I was. I tried to pray the gay away, but it didn’t work. Every time I sat in a church pew I felt dirty and tainted and disgusting. I hated that I couldn’t choose my sexuality or wash myself free of it.
I remember telling a former friend when we were children that I was “straighter than an arrow” after the one openly gay kid we knew that rode our bus took his own life after being bullied for his sexuality.
There’s nothing inherently sexual about existing. Queer people have always existed, and queer people always will exist. Because it’s not a choice, it’s just who we are. It’s who we’re born as.
I don’t want anyone to suffer the way that I did in silence, thinking that God hates them because of something they didn’t even choose.
Think of your legacy. Do you really want to be remembered for bigotry, hatred, and harming children? Do you really want to harm your queer audiences that otherwise have enjoyed your content for years without allowing them to be spoken about let alone represented in your media?
You need to do and be better, Disney!
