ORLANDO, Fla. — Gov. Ron DeSantis hinted that Florida's feud with Disney over the "Parental Rights in Education Act" — dubbed "Don't Say Gay" by critics" — is far from over.
The Florida governor appeared on Fox News' "Tucker Carlson Tonight" this week where he addressed a number of issues, including recently-reinstated Disney CEO Bob Iger's comments on the saga.
The law bars educators from teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity to students in kindergarten through third grade. School districts may opt to ban those topics beyond third grade if leaders deem them not to be age or developmentally appropriate.
Reactions to the controversial legislation sparked a lengthy back-and-forth between Disney and DeSantis as the entertainment company denounced the law and called for it to be repealed.
This all went down during Iger's brief two-year retirement from Disney. He was reinstated as CEO last week and addressed the feud during his first town hall meeting with employees.
Iger reiterated the company's support for LGBTQ+ acceptance and said, "I was sorry to see us dragged into that battle, and I have no idea exactly what its ramifications are."
After seeing the clip of Iger's comments, DeSantis told host Carlson, “We didn’t drag them in, Tucker. They went in on their own and not only opposed the bill, they threatened to get it repealed."
"These are parents' rights — important policies in our state that are very popular and so they brought this on themselves. All we did was stand up for what’s right and yes they’re a big powerful company, but you know what? We stand up for our folks and I don’t care what a Burbank-based California company says about our laws," the governor continued.
Disney and DeSantis are still at odds over the park's Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special taxing district that was allowed to "act the same authority and responsibility as a county government."
Per DeSantis' approval, the Reedy Creek district is set to be dissolved by June 2023.
The move could put millions of dollars of debt on local taxpayers and complicate the process for theme park expansion projects.
“Obviously with Reedy Creek, the path forward is Disney will not control its own government in the state of Florida,” DeSantis said in May. “Disney will have to follow the same law that every other company has to follow in the state of Florida. They will pay their fair share of taxes and they will be responsible for paying the debts.”