TALAHASI, Florida (AP) – Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill Friday to dissolve Walt Disney World’s private government after the entertainment giant opposed a new state law that critics called “Don’t Say Gay.”
The law will remove the Reedy Creek improvement area, as the 55-year-old Disney government is known, and several other similar areas by June 2023. The measure does allow the areas to be rebuilt, leaving room for renegotiation.
The move could have huge tax implications for Disney, whose series of theme parks have made Orlando one of the world’s most popular tourist destinations and further dampened relations between the Republican-led government and a major political player in the country.
For DeSantis, the attack on Disney was his last volley in a cultural war against policies involving race, gender and coronavirus, battles that made him one of the country’s most popular Republican politicians and a likely presidential candidate in 2024.
The dispute with the company began with Disney’s criticism of a new law banning instructions on sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten until third grade, as well as instructions that are not “appropriate for age or development.”
In March, Disney said it would suspend political donations in the state, adding that it would in turn support organizations working against the new law. DeSantis and his fellow Republicans then attacked Disney and defended the law as reasonable.
At Friday’s signing ceremony, DeSantis said Disney had lied about the content of the education law, but said the company’s oath to fight the law was unacceptable.
“You are a corporation based in Burbank, California, and you will focus your economic power on attacking my state’s parents. “We see this as a provocation and we will fight against it,” DeSantis said.
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