Disney Employees Allege Studio Censors Same-Sex Affection In Pixar Films: Report

A
letter
by
LGBTQIA+
employees
of
Pixar
alleged
that
Disney
corporate
executives
have
demanded
cuts
from
“nearly
every
moment
of
overtly
gay
affection”.
Obtained
by
Variety,
the
letter
came
after
a
company-wide
memo
was
sent
to
Disney
employees
by
CEO
Bob
Chapek
on
Monday
(March
7),
regarding
its
response
to
the
recently
passed
legislation
in
Florida
known
as
the
‘Don’t
Say
Gay’ bill.

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According
to
the
outlet,
the
cuts
were
in
effect
regardless
of
protests
from
both
the
creative
teams
and
executive
leadership
at
Pixar.
The
employees
also
claimed
that
their
experience
with
the
studio
was
at
odds
with
the
company-wide
memo
that
stated
that
the
“biggest
impact” the
company
can
make
“in
creating
a
more
inclusive
world
is
through
the
inspiring
content
we
produce”.

The
letter
said,
“We
at
Pixar
have
personally
witnessed
beautiful
stories,
full
of
diverse
characters,
come
back
from
Disney
corporate
reviews
shaved
down
to
crumbs
of
what
they
once
were.
Even
if
creating
LGBTQIA+
content
was
the
answer
to
fixing
the
discriminatory
legislation
in
the
world,
we
are
being
barred
from
creating
it.”
(sic)

The
letter
also
demands
Disney
withdraw
the
financial
support
of
all
legislatures
who
supported
the
“Don’t
Say
Gay” bill
and
“take
a
decisive
public
stand”.

Notably,
Pixar
has
included
a
handful
of
LGBTQ
characters
including
a
cyclops
police
officer
named
Specter,
voiced
by
Lena
Waithe
in
the
2020
release
Onward.
His
sexuality
is
only
acknowledged
in
passing
when
Specter
says,
“It’s
not
easy
being
a
new
parent
–
my
girlfriend’s
daughter
got
me
pulling
my
hair
out,
okay?”

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The
studio
earlier
this
year,
garnered
backlash
after
the
studio
choose
to
stay
silent
amid
political
attacks
against
LGBTQ+
families
in
Florida.
Earlier
on
Wednesday,
Chapek
spoke
about
Disney’s
opposition
to
the
“Don’t
Say
Gay”
bill
during
the
company’s
shareholders
meeting.

He
announced
that
the
company
would
meet
with
Florida
Gov.
Ron
DeSantis
to
discuss
Disney’s
“concerns”
about
the
legislation
and
pledged
$5
million
to
the
Human
Rights
Campaign
and
other
LGBTQ
rights
organisations.
However,
Human
Rights
Campaign
announced
that
they’d
refuse
the
donation
until
“meaningful
action
is
taken
to
combat”
the
legislation.