Disney may be woke, but it’s also goofy

Perhaps you’ve heard that at Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Fla., they won’t be using the welcome greeting, “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls” for the Magic Kingdom fireworks show anymore. Apparently, that wasn’t inclusive enough. From now on, visitors at the “Happily Ever After” fireworks show will hear a greeting, “Good evening, dreamers of all ages!” In fact, Walt Disney Company is eliminating gender references at all its theme parks, greeting people as “friends.” 

The change comes about because not everybody considers himself or herself a man or a woman, or a boy or a girl. Some people see themselves as something else, as “gender neutral.” As a company executive explained it, Disney needs to go genderless to “create that magical moment” for everyone, including people who may not identify with traditional gender roles.

Before we go too far, let’s get on the record that some in our society don’t think gay, transgender or gender-neutral people should have the same basic civil and human rights as everyone else. That’s the bad news. The good news is, by now most Americans don’t hold such malevolent thoughts. Most people are more tolerant and don’t embrace discrimination.

But does it really make sense to stop calling kids “boys and girls” because a tiny percentage of them don’t consider themselves either? Will saying “boys and girls” really damage other children? Even being “woke” has its limits.

Most Americans consider Disney as a place that entertains kids and their parents, not an activist organization that bashes laws it doesn’t like and embraces cultural ideas that many people would consider extreme.   

For example, Disney corporate president Karey Burke has said that “as the mother of one transgender child and one pansexual child” she wants more gay lead characters in stories that aren’t just about being gay. “We have many, many, many LGBTQIA characters in our stories and yet we don’t have enough leads,” she said. In fact, Disney now says a minimum of 50 percent of its characters will come from “underrepresented groups.”

I’m not sure how Disney portrays characters as gay. Among existing characters, I assume Mickey and Minnie are straight and will remain so. Goofy and Pluto always confused me, but if Disney wants to portray them as a gay couple, that’s fine. And if they turn Peter Pan into “Peter Pansexual,” I won’t lose any sleep — because, at some level, I really don’t care.

But here’s something I do care about: hypocrisy. While Disney is vying for the honor of being America’s most woke company by proclaiming undying support for gay rights, it’s doing business with countries where homosexuality is against the law.

While Disney is bashing and distorting Florida’s new law that bans teaching children as young as 5 about sexual and gender orientation, Disney cruise ships are sailing into countries where homosexuality is illegal and punishable by long prison sentences.

Disney offers a Southern Caribbean cruise, which sails this July, to Antigua, Dominica and St. Maarten. In Antigua, homosexual activities can land you in prison for up to 15 years. In Dominica, same-sex sexual activity carries a penalty of up to 12 years in prison. In St. Maarten, performing same-sex marriages on the island is illegal, and it’s against the law to change one’s legal gender.

And according to Fox News, Disney +, the company’s streaming service, is expanding its business into countries with strict anti-gay laws. They include Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Yemen. In many of those places, homosexual activity is punishable by fines, hard labor and long prison sentences.

How does Disney justify this? How can the company decide it’s a good idea to campaign against Florida’s Parental Rights in Education law while continuing to do business with countries where being gay is a crime?

Here’s an idea: Since Florida isn’t sticking its nose into Disney’s business, maybe Disney shouldn’t stick its corporate nose into Florida’s business.

Maybe if Disney wants to be seen as a crusader for tolerance, it should be more tolerant of parents who aren’t bigots but simply don’t want their children exposed to ideas about sex and gender when they’re so young. And while we’re on the subject, the law doesn’t say “Don’t Say Gay,” despite the label that its critics have given it.

As a private company, Disney can advocate for whatever its leadership wants. But it’s going to have to deal with its hypocrisy or risk looking, well, goofy.

Bernard Goldberg is an Emmy and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award-winning writer and journalist. He was a correspondent with HBO’s “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” for 22 years and previously worked as a reporter for CBS News and as an analyst for Fox News. He is the author of five books and publishes exclusive weekly columns, audio commentaries and Q&As on his Substack page. Follow him on Twitter @BernardGoldberg.