A Disney executive producer admitted she has been pushing a “not-at-all-secret gay agenda” for children’s animation, even as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the so-called “Don’t Say Gay” law this week.
During a Disney staff meeting about the law — which bars Florida teachers from discussing topics like sexual orientation or gender identity with students unless they’re in the fourth grade or higher — executive producer for Disney Television Animation Latoya Raveneau touted Disney’s efforts to feature LGBTQ storylines.
“In my little pocket of Proud Family Disney TVA, the showrunners were super welcoming . . . to my not-at-all-secret gay agenda,” Raveneau said in a leaked video obtained by journalist Christopher Rufo. “Maybe it was that way in the past, but I guess something must have happened . . . and then like all that momentum that I felt, that sense of ‘I don’t have to be afraid to have these two characters kiss in the background.’”
“I was just, wherever I could, adding queerness,” Raveneau added. “No one would stop me, and no one was trying to stop me.”
The leak of Raveneau’s comments came as Karey Burke, president of Disney’s General Entertainment Content, vowed to drastically increase inclusivity in its productions, promising that at least 50 percent of its characters will be LGBTQ or racial minorities by the end of the year.
Burke made the pledge in a company-wide Zoom call Monday that was later posted to Twitter.
