The saga of The Walt Disney Company and Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” legislation has been ongoing as the movie studio and theme park company went from trying to avoid saying anything, to finally making a public statement. However, some who work for Disney are more than happy to “say gay.” In fact Oscar Isaac doesn’t just say it, he sings it.
Oscar Isaac appears in Marvel’s Moon Knight that is about to debut on Disney+, and since Isaac has worked with Disney on more than one occasion, in both the Marvel and Star Wars franchises, Variety asked him to comment on Florida’s legislation that prevents educators from discussing gender identity or sexual orientation in early public education. Isaac’s response to the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, as it has come to be called, was to say “gay” quite a bit. Check it out.
At long last, here is the video of #MoonKnight star Oscar Isaac singing "gay gay gay gay gay gay gayyyyy" — and saying that Disney needs to come out "forcefully" against anti-LGBTQ legislation. pic.twitter.com/PpNFLza6STMarch 24, 2022
A lot of attention has been paid to how Disney specifically has handled this particular legislation. Walt Disney World makes Disney the largest single employer in the state of Florida, and with Disney’s current plans to move most of Walt Disney Imagineering to the state, the number of Disney employees living in Florida is only going to increase. Because of all the people, both employed by Disney and fans of Disney, who will be impacted by this bill, there was a strong hope that the company would take a stand against the legislation. Cast Members recently staged a walkout of Disney over the perceived lack of action.
And that hope has been echoed by Oscar Isaac. After singing the word “gay” over and over again as a way to show that he has no problem embracing it, he went on to say that he hopes to see Disney as a company take the strongest possible stand against a bill he calls “insane.” Isaac explains…
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 that even exists in this country.
Initially, it did not appear Disney was going to say much about the bill. Initial responses from CEO Bob Chapek were supportive of LGBTQ+ people and cast members, but without making reference to the legislation itself. While the company as a whole remained silent, some elements within Disney did denounce the legislation, including Marvel Studios. Eventually, however, during the recent company shareholders meeting, Chapek did state that TWDC was opposed to the bill. The company has also taken some action. It has paused all political donations in the state of Florida and has promised to review all of its political giving. We’ve also heard that a gay moment in an upcoming Pixar movie, that had initially been removed, has been added back to the film.
The bill has been passed by both houses of the Florida legislature and the governor is expected to sign it. Whether Disney will take further action if and when that happens remains to be seen, but certainly Oscar Isaac and others would like to see that.
