Disney executives can be seen defending the organization’s purportedly tolerant culture in internal call video recordings as the business faces criticism for delaying their opposition to a contentious Florida law.

The commercial featured Latoya Raveneau, an animation director who has worked on shows including The Proud Family. She talked about being worried when she initially started working at Disney since she had heard reports that the studio overplayed its hand when it came to content.

She was heard saying in the video, which has since been shared on Twitter, “But then, my experience was bafflingly the reverse of what I had heard.” “The showrunners at Proud Family Disney TVA were really accommodating in my small corner.

[Senior Vice President of Disney Television Animation] The administration there, led by Meredith Roberts, has been incredibly supportive of my openly LGBT agenda. Therefore, I thought it might have been that in the past, but I suppose something must have changed. They were changing the situation.

She spoke on the campaign to have same-sex couples appear in shows’ background scenes, a change Disney made after years of criticism for banning such images and downplaying what little LGBTQ+ representation there was.

Right-wing activist Christopher Rufo received videos from the webinar that were leaked, and he distributed them to his followers.

The conference call was anticipated to reduce tensions within Disney amid criticism that the corporation, a significant employer in Florida thanks to its Walt Disney World theme parks, maintained its neutral position throughout the contentious “don’t mention gay” bill battle in the Florida Legislature.

The business made a legal commitment to fight for the legislation’s repeal or judicial invalidation only after Governor Ron DeSantis signed it into law.

In one video, Disney General Entertainment Content president Karey Burke talked about being a mother to LGBTQ+ children.

“I’m here as a leader and as the mother of two queer kids, one transgender and one pansexual,” she said. In the video, Burke said. Because I have heard so much from so many of my coworkers over the past few weeks, that is what truly hit home for me.

Disney has been criticized for being silent earlier by opponents of the new law. At Disney’s Florida parks, there have been demonstrations and employee walkouts.

Critics worry that this rule would impede representation and even the admission that LGBTq+ individuals exist because it forbids teachers from kindergarten through third grade from discussing sexual orientation or gender identity in the classroom. Many people are concerned that provisions will expose children to their parents, especially in unsupportive families where they may suffer hardship or damage.

Production coordinator Allen March said the organization has pushed to generate material with more representation in recent years to address a reputation for failing to improve LGBTQ+ representation.

He noted that they had been “very open to investigating queer stories.” For instance, he talked on how the world on screen should accurately depict New York if storylines take place in that city. To ensure a particular proportion of background characters in scenes were gender nonconforming, a tracker was made for them.

The more focused a story is on a character, the more subtlety you can add to their story, he added. “It’s not just a numbers game of how many LGBTQ+ characters you have.”

Rufo is best known for inciting controversy around critical race theory, a complicated legal concept not covered in elementary school, to the point where states like Florida have outlawed the discussion of it in schools.

He tweeted, “We are conducting moral war against Disney.” “We’re going after their reputation in the public square. Half of their customers are now opposed to them because of us.

Pro-LGBTQ+ sentiment has predominated in the response to the leaked films.

In response to a tweet regarding the Raveneau video, user An Onoma wrote, “Please do define what you find incorrect in what she describes.” Do you believe that children should only be allowed to witness a heterosexual couple kissing in the background?

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