Three cheers to Pixar employees for their forceful righteous letter to Disney
Thursday, March 10, 2022 at 2:24PM by Nathaniel R
Thank you to the always informative Cartoon Brew for sharing this letter from Pixar employees. The original source was the subscription newsletter Popular Information. The letter addresses Disney's disgusting support of anti-gay legislators in Florida (which we discussed a couple of days ago) and the company's lame attempts at pretending they haven't given that support without actually removing it. The letter was written by 'LGBTQ+ employees and their allies' at Pixar. It's forceful and necessary. Of notable interest is the admission that Pixar films have tried for greater diversity in their storytelling years before the current wave of movies but has always been shut down by their parent company. We're sharing it in full because it's 100% worth reading...
We are writing because we are disappointed, hurt, afraid, and angry. In regards to Disney’s financial involvement with legislators behind the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, we hoped that our company would show up for us. But it didn’t.
Monday’s email, “Our Unwavering Commitment to the LGBTQ+ Community”, rang hollow. It began with the claim that Disney has a long history of supporting the LGBT community, but Disney Parks did not officially host Pride until 2019, in Paris alone. Disney has a history of shutting down fan-created Pride events in the parks, even removing same-sex couples for dancing together in the 1980’s. Additionally, Disney began capitalizing on Pride in 2018 with The Rainbow Mickey Collection, (while de-emphasizing the terms like LGBTQ+ and not even featuring explicitly LGBTQIA+ pieces such as Pride flag pins until 2021). To this end, it feels terrible to be a part of a company that makes money from Pride merch when it chooses to “step back” in times of our greatest need, when our rights are at risk.
The second claim stated that “corporate statements do very little to change outcomes or minds”. However, the very email making this claim opened with a corporate statement regarding the ongoing situation in Ukraine. Eight days after Russia invaded Ukraine, Disney paused the release of theatrical films in Russia and announced “We will make future business decisions based on the evolving situation.” Following the siege on the capital in 2021, Disney stopped all political donations to members of Congress who had objected to the presidential election results. In 2016, Disney told the state of Georgia: “We will plan to take our business elsewhere should any legislation allowing discriminatory practices be signed into state law” in response to the controversial Religious Liberty bill. By taking a stand, Disney directly affected the legislative outcome in Georgia. It has been proven that Disney’s corporate statements can and do make a difference.
Finally, we come to the push for Content as the answer. 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. Nearly every moment of overtly gay affection is cut at Disney’s behest, regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar. Even if creating LGBTQIA+ content was the answer to fixing the discriminatory legislation in the world, we are being barred from creating it. Beyond the “inspiring content” that we aren’t even allowed to create, we require action.
We are calling on Disney leadership to immediately withdraw all financial support from the legislators behind the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, to fully denounce this legislation publicly, and to make amends for their financial involvement. While signing on to donate to the HRC is a step in the correct direction, the shareholder meeting on Wednesday made it clear that this is not enough. Throughout the shareholder meeting, Disney did not take a hard stance in support of the LGBTQIA+ community, they instead attempted to placate “both sides” – and did not condemn hateful messages shared during the question and answer portion of the meeting. This is not what it means to “unequivocally stand in support of our LGBTQ+ employees, their families, and their communities.”
Disney taking a stand by honoring their company values has changed the course of legislation in the past. If Disney is true in its values, it will take a decisive public stand against the discriminatory legislation occurring in Florida and offer tangible support for the LGBTQIA+ communities affected by bigoted legislation sweeping the country. Stand against this bill in Florida and against the similar bills in South Carolina, Arizona, Virginia, and Tennessee. Stand against the transphobic legislation in Texas, Iowa, Utah, Kansas, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, and Alabama. Many hateful groups are attempting to eradicate us through legislation – we need you to stand with us entirely, not in empty words.
This matter is not something that can wait until Reimagine Tomorrow in April, or Pride Month in June. This matter needs to be addressed now. This is urgent. 42% of LGBTQIA+ youth seriously considered suicide in 2021, including more than half of transgender and nonbinary youth, with a large factor being the lack of support that these discriminatory legislations enable. Disney claims to care for the welfare of children, but supporting politicians like this directly hurts one of their most vulnerable audiences. There are lives at stake and Disney’s support could save those lives. “We still have more work to do,” your email said. This is that work.
Signed with Pride,
The LGBTQIA+ employees of Pixar, and their allies
Reader Comments (4)
Disney has been accused of being pro-LGBTQ+ by the same kinds of politicians which voted for the Don't Say Gay Bill and yet took Disney's political donations. It's maddening. Disney's CEO should resign. Donating a few million to HRC (who has thankfully rejected the hollow gesture) is NOT enough to rectify their mistakes.
I think Disney has proven time and time again that they will not encourage or promote diversity of any kind until it becomes a major financial liability to ignore it. And even then, they do the minimum possible. Empires don't disappear suddenly; they slowly crumble as crack after crack begins to destroy their foundations. The purchase of Pixar and then the relegation of Pixar films to streaming only. The purchase of 21st Century Fox and then the complete lack of support for most of their product. I'm glad to see that LGBTQ+ people and organizations are beginning to demand more than lip service from a company that stands firmly on the wrong side of equality for fear of upsetting the ones who fanatically believe that they are superior to anyone and everyone else.
For better or worse, Disney has become such a powerful entity not just in entertainment but in the economy at large that they are capable of influencing some real change, so their donations to politicians who support this awful bill is inexcusable, as is their response to the criticism they’ve received for doing so. It’s clear that Disney would like to avoid alienating anyone in their target demographic i.e. family audiences, but we’ve finally reached a point in our culture where the ones who would have a problem with them taking more of an active stand for LGBTQIA+ rights do not represent a large enough number for it to affect them much anyway (and of course, even if it would hurt them financially, which again it WOULDN’T, morally it shouldn’t make a difference). Disney is 100% too big to fail at this point, and when you reach that level of influence, perhaps they should take a lesson from their most recent mega blockbuster and realize that, truly, with great power comes great responsibility. Disney has a responsibility to do better here, and I’m glad Pixar is standing up to their parent company. I hope it puts enough pressure on them to actually make some changes.
I mean, I don’t see this as remotely within the realm of possibility, but can you imagine if Disney announced they were suspending operations for their theme parks in Florida in protest of this bill? The only thing goons like DeSantis understand is money, and Disney actually has the power to significantly hurt Florida’s economy without taking too big a hit themselves (I can’t imagine what they make from those theme parks is even close to being a majority of their income). Other companies will most assuredly be boycotting Florida because of this, but Disney is the one that could make the biggest difference given how intrinsically linked to Florida’s economy they are. Time to put up or shut up, Disney.
Republicans truly are the most vile, wretched people on earth.