Florida politicians take revenge on Disney after they oppose anti-gay law

Disney is one of Florida’s largest employers. Thanks to the theme parks near the city of Orlando, it also provides a lot of revenue from tourism.

Since the opening of the parks, Disney had a special status in Florida. It was allowed to manage the lands on which the parks are located and behaved like a municipality.

Disney itself was responsible for the fire and ambulance services. The company also organizes its own garbage collection in and around the stations and has been authorized to collect taxes. In exchange for self-government, Disney received a tax credit.

Special status revoked

Governor Ron DeSantis is now putting a stop to that. He signed a law revoking Disney’s special status.

The change follows Disney’s condemnation of a bill passed in Florida last month. Dubbed “Don’t Say Gay”, the law prohibits primary schools from talking about sexual orientation or gender identity in class.

Disney initially kept quiet about the law. After the company received a lot of criticism about it, the CEO decided to speak against† He promised to support the LGBTI community and stopped all political donations in Florida.

“Disney Challenge”

The withdrawal of special status is seen as a revenge on this position. In practice, this likely means Disney will pay more taxes.

DeSantis went after Disney. “This is a California company using its economic power to attack my state. We see this as a provocation.”