June 7, 2023 • 43 mins
In this already slightly outdated episode, we survey some recent news impacting the queer community, and discuss the poor ways some politicians and companies handle Pride.
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Speaker 1 (00:05):
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm welcome to stuff I never told you, Production by
Heart Radio, and welcome to Pride Month. It's June second.
As we record this, I'm wearing my ACE shirt, which
is very cool. It is cool. I should get my
(00:29):
pin here just for you.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I enjoy it. I like I get a show every
time of like whatever seasonal thing is happening or topic
we're talking about, come to whatever.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I'm super into it the moment. Yeah, yes, Well, unfortunately
this isn't a happy episode necessarily, but it's just updates
on some things that are happening in in the queer community.
It's not complete by any means, because a lot is happening,
and we've talked about some of those things on this
(01:04):
very show, and I'm sure we'll come back and return
to them as things continue to change. So just content warning,
like we're not going to go to in depth in anything.
But if you're just kind of tired of hearing about
like homophobic politicians and people passing bad laws, then I'm
with you, I understand. But that's we're mostly talking about
(01:28):
that and some of the things within companies that are happening,
and then some of the things that are happening with censorship,
So just to put that out there also because things
are rapidly changing. The date is June second, twenty twenty three.
I just want to say that, So it's going to
be about almost a week before you hear this, and
(01:51):
I know things will probably have changed in that time, right, Yes,
but we wanted to start with the wave of anti
drag laws that are happening. So in April twenty twenty three,
Tennessee became the first state to ban jack shows in
public spaces, although drag was never used in there specifically,
(02:13):
but that's really what they were going for. At least
fourteen other states introduced similar measures from time. Quote, a
language across the numerous bills, is similar to the Tennessee bill,
which prohibits quote adult cabaret performances in public spaces where
miners could watch. In Tennessee's bill, adult cabaret is defined
(02:34):
as adult oriented performances that include quote male or female impersonators.
It redefines drag art as a morbid and shameful interest
in sex, which is an actual legal term that they used. Yeah,
the day before it was passed, it was blocked for
(02:54):
being quote too broad by a federal judge who is
a Trump appointed judge. Some people are taking that as
like there's some kind of hope here. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
That's interesting. I know we'll talk about it later. But yeah,
several Republican politicians have actually done good things or unexpected
things that I've been very surprised by. So feels like
there's a glimmer in this madness. I'm going to clean
to that glimmer.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
So a local drag theater group of friends of George
filed a suit against it from the Guardian, they said
the law prohibits a drag performer wearing a crop top
and mini skirt from dancing where miners might see it,
their complaint notes, but does not prohibit a Tennessee Titans
cheerleader wearing an identical outfit from performing the exact same
dance in front of children, which I was gonna ask, like,
(03:45):
have they done the same kind of thing for any
like cis hetero entertainment?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Well, they brought up wrestling as well. Yeah, this kind
of thing that they're talking about banning happens in wrestling,
So no they have. But the conversation.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Volleyball, soccer, uniforms like they don't have crop tops, but
they often short shorts.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
So the ACLU of Tennessee tweeted, we are concerned that
government officials could easily abuse this law to censor people
based on their own subjective viewpoints of what they deem appropriate,
chilling and protect a speech and sending a message to
LGBTQ tityseums that they are not welcomed in our state.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
And this also speaks to how these laws could be
used to target trans people for simply existing in the
face of so many other attacks they're already under, including
bands on gender affirming care and trans people's rights in general.
So like the same, I believe the same day this
governor passed a law banning gender affirming care. So some
(04:52):
people think this is sort of like, I mean, it
is very dangerous, absolutely, but some people think it's also
kind of distracting from that too. But yeah, after the
after the bill passed, photo surfaced of Governor Billy who
is the one who signed it, doing drag in high school.
One of his spokespeople said in response, the bill specifically
(05:14):
protects children from obsceeen sexualized entertainment in any attempt to
conflate this serious issue with light hearted school traditions is
dishonest and disrespectful to Tennessee families.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
The hypocrisy, this is just for fun, right women most likely? Yes.
Are we demeaning women in a way, yes, but this
it's harmless.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah, not sexist or expecting Tennessee families. And it is
part of like we've talked about this too, the really
gross grooming argument, where that protecting the children line comes
up a lot, including it is used by organizations like
GAYE against groomers, which is an unfortunate thing. I had
(06:01):
to research doing this, which they're posting people in drag
and they said, quote they directly opposes the sexualization and
indoctrination of children. This includes drag Queen's story hours, drag
shows involving children, the transitioning and medicalization of miners, and
gender theory being taught in the classroom.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Gender theory. Yeah, I know we're not supposed to laugh,
and I know this is really bad, but the way
they phrase things is so absurd and people can take
this all different ways. So at this point, talking about
gender and having people talk about heteronormative ideas is gender theory.
So you'd best not be talking about that, right.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
A lot of people have brought that up too, But
like going back to the hypocrisy of like, well, you
talk about intersection people all the time, and that's not
like outside of gender theory.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
You're teaching women to be the why or women's career focus.
That's a gender theory, which is what they want to promote.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yep, exactly, And it goes hand in hand with what
we've been seeing. We have book banning, which we talked
about in a previous episode and we will discuss a
little bit more towards the end. And some of these
laws that we're seeing specifically call out promoting obscenity, which
is essentially just advertising. So one of the big things
(07:30):
we've seen from this is so much fear and uncertainty
that companies or venues won't host any drag events anymore
because they don't know, right.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
I believe Department of Defense typically had a drag show
yearly and they canceled it this year if I remember correctly.
During Pride month.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yeah, yeah, Well, there's a lot of concerns that a
lot of Pride events are going to get canceled because
of these laws. And I mean it's serious consequences. Some
of the prison sentences in them are up to ten
years in prison. The person would be registered as sex
offender and finds of up to twenty thousand dollars and
(08:12):
then that's also going along with the venue facing fines
and things like that. There has been some several celebrities
have spoken out about it. I know Lizo was a
really big came out against it. And then I wanted
to include this because it goes along with what we've
been talking about with religion. So Nebraska's has a proposed
(08:37):
anti drag legislation. So here's a quote about it from Time.
The bill was later amended by Senator Meghan Hunt to
prohibit children for participating in Bible studies, church camp, or
other religious programs. Quote. The legislature finds that there is
a well documented history of indoctrination and sexual abuse perpetrated
by religious leaders and clergy people upon children.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
It's true. True. Let's talk about the fact that the
Virgin Mary was supposed to be thirteen or twelve, twelve or.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Thirteen, Oh my gosh, that Jesus, yeah wow.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
And this is from the Guardian and we've talked about
this before last year, the Southern Baptist Convention released a
list of over seven hundred of their ministers accused of
sexual abuse, with many of the ministers in Tennessee. And
that's just one denomination. There's no record, not a single
documented instance of a child ever being harmed or abused
at a drag show. Statistically speaking, children are far safer
(09:38):
at a drag Queen story hour than at church. Yet
we aren't attempting to legislate whether parents can take children
to church. How is this protecting children? And, like we
talked about it before, a lot of the grooming comes
within the church.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Right right, and this the people they interviewed within this article,
it goes on to bring up gun violence and like
the things we've seen in Timnasee and around mass shootings,
and how despite that this governor, Tennessee governor recently signed
a permitless carry bill. Even though like they also went
(10:12):
into so many of these things we talk about, We
have all of these polls that indicate people are on
the opposite side. So people don't want like the banning
of drag shows. People don't want people being able to
carry guns without a permit, Like this is going against
the will of the people they're supposed to represent.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
And the amount of children that have died just from
old folks. And I'm saying old folks being scared that
the people are in their driveway or walking next to
or going near and an amount of good Christian folks
are the ones that's shooting and getting away with it.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Yeah, And I hate I hate it.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
It's very frustrating.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
It's just the thing. So there is a history of this.
NPR has a good breakdown. As early as eighteen sixty three,
San Francisco had a law abanning someone from being in
public if they're wearing clothing different from what is typically
associated with their legal or assigned gender. These laws were
used as a way of control not only of gender
(11:21):
identity and performance, but if you were arrested, then you
had a criminal record that can make it really difficult
to obtain jobs. And I was gonna say that about
the sex vender registry. This seems like a good idea,
but oftentimes some of it is good and some of
it is just a witch hunt, and some of it
is just going after marginalized communities. And I say this
(11:41):
as a former law enforcement kind of on the outskirts
of law enforcements and seeing what these do, like it's
targeting people. Don't get me wrong, true pedophiles teld molestors
who are mostly from the church. Heteral men need to
be known. But what we see more often than that,
especially if they do this with the anti drag laws,
(12:02):
they are targeting for a reason.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Right, And so much of this is incredibly infuriating too,
because I mean, at one time women couldn't wear pants.
Like it's just this whole idea of like what's typically
associated with their legal or assigned gender. Right, that's like
stuff that changes and that we kind of made up,
(12:25):
like completely made up. Yeah, that's the whole kind of
performance of gender. That's sort of but it's not everyone
agrees on what that is. So that's just it makes
me mad. And as I said, there are a lot
of worries about pride parades getting canceled. I saw a
story about it today in Florida where they don't think
they're gonna be able to do it because they're worried
(12:46):
about this. Yeah, which it's I kind of got torn
in my head about it because it's one of those
things where I'm like, this is not the biggest issue.
A lot of this stuff we're talking about is just
part of a bigger targeting of the queer community and
especially trans people, and so it's like tragic, like a
Pride parade gets canceled, especially because of these things, but
(13:08):
there are It's just I don't want that to be
the only headline we're taking from this.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
But I think it comes back to the point that
it took a violent event for Pride parades and things
to come about. So it's not just like it's a
swell thing. It took a violent event for this to
come out. This came it was born from the Stonewall riot,
and we need to have that conversation about like this
(13:35):
is not about showing off, which we have talked about
before that. I had had a discussion with my own parents,
who at one point in time seemed okay with the
queer community and kind of accepting of it, and they're like, okay, cool, cool, cool,
And then this rhetoric came back as of recently, and
I got the why do they have to put it
in our face? Why do they have to have a parade?
And I'm like, you don't even know when it is?
(13:55):
Tell me when when is it, So, how's it in
your face? But literally coming back to this in this
narrative of like they're just trying to show off, Like no,
they're celebrating because they had to fight to get to
this point. It's it's it is dangerous because this is
a silence and this is going against the rights of
individuals in general.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Right, Yeah, and I mean it is super important. I
don't want to make it because people have a lot
of queer people feel very isolated, and so when you
have a moment like that where you kind of get
to meet other queer people and you get to be proud,
right and have those conversations, that is no small thing.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
I will say, it's gotten to corporate, like when you
go to a vibrate everyone is themed like at and
t Like, what the hell does that have to do?
Speaker 3 (14:41):
What?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Right, Well, that's one of the big conversations about it
is that it's kind of gotten away from right, which
we are going to talk about in a second. Actually,
and I did read it. I wanted to include one
other thing from The Guardian where they were talking to
an owner of a theater company in Tennessee, Ale because
they were making the point like this impacts non queer
(15:03):
folks too, apart from it being a humans rights thing
that you should care about. But also, here's the quote,
can we still produce Peter Pan with a female Pan?
Can we do missus doubtfire? Is it okay for us
to put on Shakespeare the way was traditionally performed? But
also I have a feeling is going to be very
(15:24):
specifically targeted when they enforce it and when they don't.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Obviously, Yeah, but.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah, let's talk about Let's talk about the corporate aspect
you were discussing, because we have seen a lot of
company backlash, and I've seen several articles that have made
the point because this is also you know, I feel
like a lot of times these take up a lot
of space, and here I am talking about it. But
I think it's interesting in that a lot of the
articles I've read had said this just shows how toxic
(16:07):
and how much backwards were going, because this didn't used
to be kind of such a big flash point for companies.
Companies could usually have something for Pride Month, and they
didn't experience as much backlash as they are now. So
(16:29):
I do want to say, like at the top of this,
it is weird to me companies trying to cash in
on pride, and I don't no. I mean, obviously, I
guess these aren't sponsors. I don't necessarily support them. But yeah,
as someone who works for a big company, you and
(16:49):
I talk about this all the time because we get
requests like this all the time, not just for Pride,
like for every like whatever the month is, we get
a request about it, and we're always like, well, what,
like back it up? What are you just saying these things?
Like what give us some kind of because a lot
of times they'll say like, we're donating to this, and
I'm like, how much are you donating? How often are
(17:11):
you donating? Like and then we never hear back.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
You right, and then just looking at the track record
and you realize who they play both sides, y e.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Right. So at the end of the day, these are companies.
They are looking to make money. They are not consistent.
They often donate to all kinds of opposing things, right,
So they're not allies. They're just not. But okay, they
could do a lot better. I'll say that. And let's
start with bud Light. I know it's old news now
(17:42):
you've all heard about it, that bud Light faced a
huge backlash after sending trans influencer Dylan Ulvany a can
of beer with her face on it, and she showed
it during an Instagram post. It was a very typical Instagram.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
An endorsement, like she really wasn't making really much money
other than TikTok money.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
No, It's like it was just such a like, oh, yeah,
there you go. It's a normal video and.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
The amount of people throwing out cans of beer, like
you already bought it, dude, do you really think that's
doing something right? Not knowing that Anheuser Busch is a
giant company that most of the beers that you're drinking
so calm us down.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
And like a lot of other stuff too. They own
a lot.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
And what's so funny is this did not make any
I don't think any of the liberal people going I
have to go buy Budweiser, Like that wasn't a thing
like that didn't We were like, Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
No, the whole thing is so ridiculous and it's so
performative and it's so incredibly a waste of time. And yeah,
there was like all of these videos that were getting
posted of people shooting beer.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Which is a thing by the way, we had a
local brewery that did that because they got complaints about
their beer and so they're mad and they shot up
their beer with Ak's were like, why do this?
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Why does it makes sense?
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (19:04):
And honestly, though, the biggest thing that we should talk
about with this is the fact that Dylan mulvaney was
braided with so much harassment just because she was thankful
that someone noticed her, like that's the end of the story.
And she has been like, I think she would offer
social media for a while because she had so many
(19:26):
death threats and doxing and going after her, but Budweiser gave.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
No, No, they didn't, and that is an unfortunate trend.
We see a lot and as you said, you can
make money on TikTok and so that is like a
financial I mean, obviously an emotional harm, but a financial harm,
and it is a harm that impacts an entire community
who was witnessing this. And it was incredibly disheartening too,
(19:52):
because the company then they released a statement and they
said they quote never tended to be part of a
discussion that divides people, and released a very but like
I'll say, like Generic America commercial.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
That was.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
It was like embarrassing how hard they were trying to
be like whoa America for everybody? Clearly you're not, you're.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Not if you're ashaming and you're ashamed because you sent
a beer.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Mm hmmm, well this is the thing too. It's like
I read a really good thread about how this is.
This is an example of how clearly like this whole
like we never intended to be a part of a
discussion that divides people. That they'd never they just want
to like get the credit, but didn't stop to think
of this is what a queer person faces every day.
(20:48):
And so then then they get some of this backlash
and like oh no, retreat, retreat. And the thing is
the company because they both they backtracked. Now they've like
pissed off everybody, everybody, everybody. They reported they all up
(21:10):
their US marketing budget three times to make up for
the loss of revenue caused by this, which again is ridiculous.
This is ridiculous. And now let us talk about what
is happening with Target. So in May, Target removed or
(21:31):
moved items to the back some of their prideline, particularly
around trans folks, because they actually had like two hundred
items or something in certain Southern stores because of confrontations
and threats that they reported were being experienced by their employees,
like things getting turned over, yelling, all that kind of stuff.
(21:52):
The statement was very vague. It was issued days after
the CEO spoke about inclusivity, and the big target of
it of the eyre was something called the tuch Friendly
bathing suit, which was supposed to be for trans people,
and there's a lot of Disney information and misinformation around it,
with conservative pundits claiming it was targeted towards kids. It
(22:15):
wasn't that. That was the story that I got told
and passed around, and then people got so angry about
it and we're focusing about it. And then, of course
after this happened, activists expressed their frustration that instead of
targeting bad customers, they kind of just gave it and
removed the products.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
And a lot of the products were from small businesses,
which was a big thing that target was trying to
say that they are a part of as well at
bringing in small businesses, and instead they've everyone over, not
just the quick community, but the small businesses that they
are so proud about, including.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Right yeah, and it some of the designers reported they
were getting so many death threats. They were glad when
their stuff got removed, but they should have had support
right from Target. Right, it's just it shouldn't be a thing.
And like I was saying, it's especially it's it's just
(23:13):
it's so very corporate to want to cash in on
something without taking the time to understand it and just
conveniently bowing out right when you can. And it's it's
in another example of violent extremists controlling the narrative with
things like abortion as well. And it's disheartening too because
Target does have a history of taking steps to be inclusive.
(23:35):
Right after a lot of the bathroom bands were happening
in twenty sixteen, they like went out of their way
to make sure like, no, we're going to have these bathrooms,
and the they have been because of that the Target
fun I guess I didn't mean to of threats before,
which isn't right, Like people shouldn't be threatened. I'm not
(23:57):
saying like if the work a workspace should be safe
at all, but it's just sophelic we're not punishing the
right people or we're not taking the right steps to
make it so that's not the case for anyone.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Right, I mean when it comes down to when you
see content like this, and I would be I would
like to see the statistics, especially when it's online trolling,
how often they are bots or one person doing ten
different usernames, because we know the narrative is a majority
of people don't care, like even if they are probably
(24:32):
biggest or homophobic, they don't get on the computer. Like
my parents, who would be what I would call homophobic.
They don't touch the computer, my sister, my brother, not
to target. They complain on Facebook, sure, but they don't
go you know what I mean. That takes a long time,
so I don't I've never met one person in my
(24:53):
conservative lifetime that actually went and did this, So I'm
really wondering who is the one that are complaining honestly,
as well as the fact that I understand you want
to protect your employees, but like you said, this is
an easy way out instead of having knowing that you
are a private business so that you can escort these
people out real quickly, real quickly.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Yeah, and once again, as you said, they've up because
now that everybody's like that.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Because because the rebservatives are not coming back to say
I forgive you. That's not a thing they do.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
No, And now queer people are just people who have
like queer people in their lives are like, well, now
I don't feel like I'm supported here, And it's ridiculous,
I say it again, because other companies who who probably
don't have great track records either. We all shop at
places where we don't necessarily agree with their politics, right,
all of us. But now we're going to other places
(25:51):
that who knows, but at least their queer stuff is
still there. All right?
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Oh, I think Walmart, Walmart, who I don't up there
at all, but.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Exactly that's what I kept seeing. And I'm not saying
like that's good or right at all, but it's just.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Right because they're just cashing in as well. But at
least they're not backpacking.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
I guess it's it's just a mess. It's just such
a mess. We're speaking of we Oh my gosh, all right,
we got to talk about this whole thing that's going
on with Disney and DeSantis, which I just saw a
headline update today about it. So this is this is
wildly changing, and I'm going to condense it because it's
(26:30):
like several years in the making. Actually so, after pressure
from consumers and employees, and what I gather is just
plain annoyance at DeSantis's attempts to control and censor them,
Disney announced that it wasn't cool with the Don't Say
Gay bill censoring discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity
in the classroom, and there has been so much legal
(26:54):
back and forth about this. Allegedly, then Disney CEO Bob
Chapek signed a statement protesting the bill and called DeSantis
to express his concerns. A few days later, DeSantis released
this statement, woke Disney is now echoing Democrat propaganda and
falling for the corporate media's phony hysteria over a Florida
(27:17):
bill that sensibly prohibits K through third graders from being
inductrinated with transgenderism and r rated lessons about sexuality. In response,
Chapek announced he'd pause all political donations in Florida and
released a statement to employees who had long been calling
for the company to do more, quote, you needed me
(27:38):
to be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights,
and I let you down. I am sorry. So this
was in part due to a report that found that
Disney had donated thousands not only to DeSantis, but other
anti LGBTQ plus politicians in Florida. So employees, I think
we talked about this when it happened, like they were
protesting walking out, and yeah, Disney cast members stage walkouts.
(28:04):
Even after that savement due to Chipek's lack of action,
some employees staged daily walkouts, and creators reported being censored.
I believe we talked about that turning red because they
said they had a more explicit queer storyline that they
had to take out. A few months later, the Florida
(28:25):
legislature voted to end the quote special districts put into
place before nineteen sixty eight, including one that gives Walt
Disney World Resort essentially its own government, during their special session.
Now here, I want to say a note, I do
not know if any company should have this, but it
was clearly an act of political retribution, all right. In
(28:47):
twenty twenty three, Dessanta's passed a bill changing the name
of this district and appointing a five person oversight board
of directors to it. However, the current members at the
time signed a development deal with the company to give
it a max developmental power for thirty years, and they
invoked some kind of king Charles.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Oh yeah, so they went after it by saying, as
to the old monarchy, that King Charles, the current one
that just got inducted as the king after his last
descendant dies and then thirty years after that. So right
now he has grandkids that are infants and toddlers, and
probably more kids will be on the way. Let's just
(29:30):
do it on us. So they have a because like
if when the grand kids get married, he'll have more descendants,
so essentially never ending.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Of course, if we remember correctly, the board of directors,
the original members were voted in, I believe, and this
one was uprooted and he appointed, which is called a
dictatorship or fascist.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
Anyway, so Dissentis's board is terrifying. This is his cronies,
his last, all the things. Here's something from CNN. The
governor also appointed the CEO of a right wing ministry
and the founder of the right wing activist groups Moms
for Liberty, Horrifying, which the governor has supported to transform
(30:14):
local school boards. Board member Ron Perry, CEO of the
Gathering USA ministry, was captured in a since deleted YouTube
video suggesting tapwater has turned Americans gay. This is not
to harp on Florida, because I know things are changing.
Good for you, Jacksonville bringing in a Democratic mayor, Good
(30:36):
for you, Proud of you. She's still a politician though.
But all had to say is this kind of like
you see the whole Like, yeah, Florida used to be
that state that had all the ex cons right, all
the all the cons at the beginning of what it
was like the thirteen member union. That makes sense. I'm
(30:56):
gonna yell that by somebody from Florida.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
I saw a whole bit about this where somebody yelled
at a comedian, not yelled, but was like, why do
we always make fun of Florida?
Speaker 1 (31:07):
And there I think the majority of Floridians are not
like this that much like Georgia, they have done really
well in butchering the Vote Vot Voting Rights Act and
therefore being able to put what they want and try
to dictate the results that they want. So I do
know that we love you still. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Yes, well, DeSantis, in this escalating fight, did threaten to
put a prison next to Disney World, amongst other things. Also,
he got married in Disney World, by the way, just
to put that out there. So, yes, he put into
places very discouncil, very conservative people. After he officially dissolved
(31:53):
the Randy Creek District, which was the original district. However, yeah,
Disney had found a way to effectively make them powerless.
It's still going back and forth though, because DeSantis ordered
an investigation. Disney filed a lawsuit against DeSantis in April
twenty twenty three, alleging he was engaging in a quote
targeted campaign of government retaliation and was violating their First
(32:15):
Amendment rights. Then DeSantis's installed boards sued Disney back, saying
they quote had no choice but to respond, I.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Know, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
That is.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
It was basically like, well she hit me first, was like,
I'm rubber, You're glue.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
What bounds off me?
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Stick to you?
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Like, that's essentially what's happened.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Right, Yes, and then Disney canceled plans for a one
billion dollar campus in Orlando that I think was going
to be used to like for animation for movies. From
the New York Times quote it would have brought more
than two Disney jobs to the region, with one hundred
(33:02):
and twenty thousand as the average salary according to an
estimate from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, though I
didn't want to say. Note some of the employees were
not happy about the potential of being relocated because a
lot of them were going to come from California, I believe,
and some people quit because they didn't want to be relocated.
(33:23):
So and this was also they wanted to make this
change so the company could benefit from the state's tax credit.
And then California officials called on Disney to build the
campus there, and it was like, the worker's already here.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
It's a bidding war.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Yeah, exactly. I just want to make sure because who's
to say if the jobs would have gone to people
in Florida. I guess that's what I'm saying. But right then,
because this has to get even more ridiculous, North Carolina
introduced a bill targeting at getting Disney to relocate. It
was called the Mickey's Freedom Restoration Act. Still, as of now,
(34:02):
Disney is set to invest seventeen billion dollars in central
Florida over the next ten years. Disney is also set
to host the quote largest LGBT plus conference in the
world beginning in September. People have express concerns about vacationing
in Florida now because of this, and the NAACP issued
a Trapel advisory recently. And I do also want to say, like,
(34:28):
I really don't like Desantas. I want to be a
thousand percent clear on that, but I also don't want
to paint Disney in like like they don't have the
best in history in this right, Like there's still a
company that is trying to make money. A lot of
what's happening here is because of the consumers and employees pushing.
(34:49):
So just just to keep that in mind, some people
are saying that this is whole thing is kind of
trying Disney trying to cover following profits and massive layoffs.
I don't think that's true. I'm sure that might be
part of it.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
That's the conspiracy theory that conservatives is not really because right.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
And it's so frustrating too, because I mean, we could
heart all day about the hypocrisy we're saying over and
over again, but for a party and a politician who's
constantly like, you know, corporate leave corporations alone, privacy, Like
if I mean, can you imagine can you imagine he's
(35:35):
trying to install his own people to control a company.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Right, like a billion dollar company, better national company, right.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Stunning hypocrisy. All right, Now, I did want to do
a quick updates on the Don't Say Gay Bill because
(36:08):
it has been updated to extend to twelfth grade. Now
in April twenty twenty three, it was extended from ap quote.
The rule change would ban lessons on sexual orientation and
gender identity from grades four through twelve unless required by
existing state standards or as part of reproductive health instruction
that students can choose not to take. That's the time
(36:29):
when students are becoming aware of their sexuality. So really
digging in the heels. I do want to say, kind
of like what we talked about two with the book
banning episode, there has been a lot of instances of
young people protesting, staging walkouts, or not being able to
fly Pride flags like so that's heartening to see, but
(36:50):
it's this is very upsetting and horrifying. There was a
story that came out related to that about how ridiculous
and confusing all of this is.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Right, yeah, and they're still talking about all the aftermath.
But a Florida teacher was investigated after showing the Disney
film Strange Worlds to fifth graders because of his inclusion
of a gay character. The teacher claimed she showed it
because it was relevant to her curriculum on ecosystems. The
investigation was recently closed and the teacher had all the
necessary forms aside beforehand. She expressed fear at the uncertainty
(37:23):
of the environment and the parent who reported her. Shanon
Rodriguez reported her to Florida state officials for violating Don't
Say Gay. A petition for her removal from the local
school board garnered sixteen thousand signatures over two weeks. She
said at the school board meeting, you showed a movie
that wasn't sanctioned at school material, thus stripping the innocence
(37:44):
of my ten year old.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
Movie.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Yeah, a Disney movie PG cartoon that had a character
not be talking about being gay, necessarily being in a
gay relationship, just being gay. That was just there.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
I know that the teacher has fired back at this
as well. It has been all over social media talking
about it and news. I did also see just recently
a veteran who was hardcore veteran came against all of
the school board talking about how he had fought fascism
during his time in the military and now he's having
(38:23):
to fight it in the schools and in Florida today,
which is so good to see that people are standing
up for this. And again I think the much like
Georgia and the Minia, the South Florida is not as
heavily in favor of things like this. This is a
political stunt. We knew it was the sanest wants to
(38:43):
compete against Trump, which is a whole different conversation, but
because of this, because they're the loudest, it does seem
like this is the majority of Florida, and that's not true.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
Right, And that's thing we also discussed in the book
Banning One and that woman that we mentioned that was
appointed to the council. The santisis Council of Moms for Liberty.
Like it's an organized effort done by not that many people,
but they are very They've been very effective at organizing
(39:19):
and getting people in rooms and making these scenes and
being like very distracting. And I also the teacher said
she didn't realize that the rule had changed, and she
also didn't really think about like the gay character being
in there, so that's just an example of how confusing
(39:40):
all of this is. And a final note before we
move on about this, Cat superfan super listener Cat wrote
in recently expressing their frustration around a politician doing something
similar where they were but kind of on the flip side,
(40:03):
where they were saying like, we could do this kind
of pride event, but we really shouldn't have a pride
parade because the you know, the atmosphere or the environment
is not correct for it. So kind of being like
I super support you, yeah, not backing it up at all,
and trying to appease with well, what about this, This
should be enough, you don't need anything else, and not
(40:24):
listening to all of the complaints from the citizens who
were saying like, no, we want to have a pride parade,
like this is not and then the politician getting angry
and saying essentially like you're asking for too much, like
I'm doing my best. So that's also We've been talking
(40:44):
a lot about companies, but politicians absolutely do do it too.
And then finally I wanted to end with I would
say this is kind of an up note. I don't know,
but there's an article came out that a couple of
you listeners have written about this, and I thought it
was really interesting about how during the pandemic you have
(41:08):
found your identity or you have like realized like, oh,
I actually identified this way. It turns out you are
not alone. So this article was talking about why that
might be, and they were saying things like taking time
to stop and think, not being distracted by socialization or commutes,
being able to hear quote the quiet voice, to face
(41:30):
things that you've ignored. A lot of people that interviewed said,
it's not like I was in denial. It's more like
I just had never taken the time to hear that
quiet voice. A lot of things around reflection and introspection.
I had the question I had who are you performing for?
I had that a lot during the pandemic, of like, well,
who was this for all along? But also being online
(41:53):
more during quarantine and connecting to others like you, which
was part of a larger trend. They made sure to say, like,
there's no actual data on this, this is just a
lot of people reporting it, but it was also kind
of a trend that was happening. Ever since, we have
gotten more online and we have been able to make
those connections some people were talking about fear around death
and not wanting to die without being honest about who
(42:15):
you are, without thinking about what do you really want
out of life, And then a lot of people reported
kind of this internalized ageist understanding that coming out is
only for young people and once you reach a certain age,
like it's too late, especially if they had like a
homophobic family or something. So I just thought that was
(42:38):
really fascinating, especially because we've gotten several throughout the pandemic.
A lot of you have written in about that, So yeah,
just something to think about. Yes, I know this isn't
the easiest episode, but we have to talk about this
stuff and we do have a lot of fun content
around the queer community coming out. I hope everyone has
(43:01):
a happy, lovely, safe pride and let us know what
you're doing or if there's anything else we should talk about,
any resources we should shout out. You can email us
at seffidm moms Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com. You can
find us on Twitter at Moms Step podcast, or on
Instagram and TikTok at stuff when Neyver told you. You
can also find us on YouTube, and we have a
tea public store. You can check some stuff out we
(43:22):
have on only have a couple of designs on there right now,
but some more stuff is coming. We also have a
book you can pre order. It's that stuff you should
read books dot com. Thanks as alwis to our super
producer Christina, our executive producer Maya, and our contributor Joey.
Thank you and thanks to you for listening stuff on
every total et protection of iHeartRadio. For a podcast from
my heart Radio, you can check out the i heart
Radio app Apple Podcast where you listen to your favorite shows.
Hey, this is Annie and Samantha.
Speaker 2 (00:06):
I'm welcome to stuff I never told you, Production by
Heart Radio, and welcome to Pride Month. It's June second.
As we record this, I'm wearing my ACE shirt, which
is very cool. It is cool. I should get my
(00:29):
pin here just for you.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
I enjoy it. I like I get a show every
time of like whatever seasonal thing is happening or topic
we're talking about, come to whatever.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
I'm super into it the moment. Yeah, yes, Well, unfortunately
this isn't a happy episode necessarily, but it's just updates
on some things that are happening in in the queer community.
It's not complete by any means, because a lot is happening,
and we've talked about some of those things on this
(01:04):
very show, and I'm sure we'll come back and return
to them as things continue to change. So just content warning,
like we're not going to go to in depth in anything.
But if you're just kind of tired of hearing about
like homophobic politicians and people passing bad laws, then I'm
with you, I understand. But that's we're mostly talking about
(01:28):
that and some of the things within companies that are happening,
and then some of the things that are happening with censorship,
So just to put that out there also because things
are rapidly changing. The date is June second, twenty twenty three.
I just want to say that, So it's going to
be about almost a week before you hear this, and
(01:51):
I know things will probably have changed in that time, right, Yes,
but we wanted to start with the wave of anti
drag laws that are happening. So in April twenty twenty three,
Tennessee became the first state to ban jack shows in
public spaces, although drag was never used in there specifically,
(02:13):
but that's really what they were going for. At least
fourteen other states introduced similar measures from time. Quote, a
language across the numerous bills, is similar to the Tennessee bill,
which prohibits quote adult cabaret performances in public spaces where
miners could watch. In Tennessee's bill, adult cabaret is defined
(02:34):
as adult oriented performances that include quote male or female impersonators.
It redefines drag art as a morbid and shameful interest
in sex, which is an actual legal term that they used. Yeah,
the day before it was passed, it was blocked for
(02:54):
being quote too broad by a federal judge who is
a Trump appointed judge. Some people are taking that as
like there's some kind of hope here. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (03:04):
That's interesting. I know we'll talk about it later. But yeah,
several Republican politicians have actually done good things or unexpected
things that I've been very surprised by. So feels like
there's a glimmer in this madness. I'm going to clean
to that glimmer.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Okay.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
So a local drag theater group of friends of George
filed a suit against it from the Guardian, they said
the law prohibits a drag performer wearing a crop top
and mini skirt from dancing where miners might see it,
their complaint notes, but does not prohibit a Tennessee Titans
cheerleader wearing an identical outfit from performing the exact same
dance in front of children, which I was gonna ask, like,
(03:45):
have they done the same kind of thing for any
like cis hetero entertainment?
Speaker 2 (03:51):
Well, they brought up wrestling as well. Yeah, this kind
of thing that they're talking about banning happens in wrestling,
So no they have. But the conversation.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
Volleyball, soccer, uniforms like they don't have crop tops, but
they often short shorts.
Speaker 2 (04:09):
Mm hmm.
Speaker 1 (04:10):
So the ACLU of Tennessee tweeted, we are concerned that
government officials could easily abuse this law to censor people
based on their own subjective viewpoints of what they deem appropriate,
chilling and protect a speech and sending a message to
LGBTQ tityseums that they are not welcomed in our state.
Speaker 2 (04:26):
And this also speaks to how these laws could be
used to target trans people for simply existing in the
face of so many other attacks they're already under, including
bands on gender affirming care and trans people's rights in general.
So like the same, I believe the same day this
governor passed a law banning gender affirming care. So some
(04:52):
people think this is sort of like, I mean, it
is very dangerous, absolutely, but some people think it's also
kind of distracting from that too. But yeah, after the
after the bill passed, photo surfaced of Governor Billy who
is the one who signed it, doing drag in high school.
One of his spokespeople said in response, the bill specifically
(05:14):
protects children from obsceeen sexualized entertainment in any attempt to
conflate this serious issue with light hearted school traditions is
dishonest and disrespectful to Tennessee families.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
The hypocrisy, this is just for fun, right women most likely? Yes.
Are we demeaning women in a way, yes, but this
it's harmless.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
Yeah, not sexist or expecting Tennessee families. And it is
part of like we've talked about this too, the really
gross grooming argument, where that protecting the children line comes
up a lot, including it is used by organizations like
GAYE against groomers, which is an unfortunate thing. I had
(06:01):
to research doing this, which they're posting people in drag
and they said, quote they directly opposes the sexualization and
indoctrination of children. This includes drag Queen's story hours, drag
shows involving children, the transitioning and medicalization of miners, and
gender theory being taught in the classroom.
Speaker 1 (06:22):
Gender theory. Yeah, I know we're not supposed to laugh,
and I know this is really bad, but the way
they phrase things is so absurd and people can take
this all different ways. So at this point, talking about
gender and having people talk about heteronormative ideas is gender theory.
So you'd best not be talking about that, right.
Speaker 2 (06:45):
A lot of people have brought that up too, But
like going back to the hypocrisy of like, well, you
talk about intersection people all the time, and that's not
like outside of gender theory.
Speaker 1 (06:56):
You're teaching women to be the why or women's career focus.
That's a gender theory, which is what they want to promote.
Speaker 2 (07:08):
Yep, exactly, And it goes hand in hand with what
we've been seeing. We have book banning, which we talked
about in a previous episode and we will discuss a
little bit more towards the end. And some of these
laws that we're seeing specifically call out promoting obscenity, which
is essentially just advertising. So one of the big things
(07:30):
we've seen from this is so much fear and uncertainty
that companies or venues won't host any drag events anymore
because they don't know, right.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
I believe Department of Defense typically had a drag show
yearly and they canceled it this year if I remember correctly.
During Pride month.
Speaker 2 (07:51):
Yeah, yeah, Well, there's a lot of concerns that a
lot of Pride events are going to get canceled because
of these laws. And I mean it's serious consequences. Some
of the prison sentences in them are up to ten
years in prison. The person would be registered as sex
offender and finds of up to twenty thousand dollars and
(08:12):
then that's also going along with the venue facing fines
and things like that. There has been some several celebrities
have spoken out about it. I know Lizo was a
really big came out against it. And then I wanted
to include this because it goes along with what we've
been talking about with religion. So Nebraska's has a proposed
(08:37):
anti drag legislation. So here's a quote about it from Time.
The bill was later amended by Senator Meghan Hunt to
prohibit children for participating in Bible studies, church camp, or
other religious programs. Quote. The legislature finds that there is
a well documented history of indoctrination and sexual abuse perpetrated
by religious leaders and clergy people upon children.
Speaker 1 (08:59):
It's true. True. Let's talk about the fact that the
Virgin Mary was supposed to be thirteen or twelve, twelve or.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
Thirteen, Oh my gosh, that Jesus, yeah wow.
Speaker 1 (09:13):
And this is from the Guardian and we've talked about
this before last year, the Southern Baptist Convention released a
list of over seven hundred of their ministers accused of
sexual abuse, with many of the ministers in Tennessee. And
that's just one denomination. There's no record, not a single
documented instance of a child ever being harmed or abused
at a drag show. Statistically speaking, children are far safer
(09:38):
at a drag Queen story hour than at church. Yet
we aren't attempting to legislate whether parents can take children
to church. How is this protecting children? And, like we
talked about it before, a lot of the grooming comes
within the church.
Speaker 2 (09:51):
Right right, and this the people they interviewed within this article,
it goes on to bring up gun violence and like
the things we've seen in Timnasee and around mass shootings,
and how despite that this governor, Tennessee governor recently signed
a permitless carry bill. Even though like they also went
(10:12):
into so many of these things we talk about, We
have all of these polls that indicate people are on
the opposite side. So people don't want like the banning
of drag shows. People don't want people being able to
carry guns without a permit, Like this is going against
the will of the people they're supposed to represent.
Speaker 1 (10:32):
And the amount of children that have died just from
old folks. And I'm saying old folks being scared that
the people are in their driveway or walking next to
or going near and an amount of good Christian folks
are the ones that's shooting and getting away with it.
Speaker 2 (10:49):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
Yeah, And I hate I hate it.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
It's very frustrating.
Speaker 1 (10:58):
It's just the thing. So there is a history of this.
NPR has a good breakdown. As early as eighteen sixty three,
San Francisco had a law abanning someone from being in
public if they're wearing clothing different from what is typically
associated with their legal or assigned gender. These laws were
used as a way of control not only of gender
(11:21):
identity and performance, but if you were arrested, then you
had a criminal record that can make it really difficult
to obtain jobs. And I was gonna say that about
the sex vender registry. This seems like a good idea,
but oftentimes some of it is good and some of
it is just a witch hunt, and some of it
is just going after marginalized communities. And I say this
(11:41):
as a former law enforcement kind of on the outskirts
of law enforcements and seeing what these do, like it's
targeting people. Don't get me wrong, true pedophiles teld molestors
who are mostly from the church. Heteral men need to
be known. But what we see more often than that,
especially if they do this with the anti drag laws,
(12:02):
they are targeting for a reason.
Speaker 2 (12:05):
Right, And so much of this is incredibly infuriating too,
because I mean, at one time women couldn't wear pants.
Like it's just this whole idea of like what's typically
associated with their legal or assigned gender. Right, that's like
stuff that changes and that we kind of made up,
(12:25):
like completely made up. Yeah, that's the whole kind of
performance of gender. That's sort of but it's not everyone
agrees on what that is. So that's just it makes
me mad. And as I said, there are a lot
of worries about pride parades getting canceled. I saw a
story about it today in Florida where they don't think
they're gonna be able to do it because they're worried
(12:46):
about this. Yeah, which it's I kind of got torn
in my head about it because it's one of those
things where I'm like, this is not the biggest issue.
A lot of this stuff we're talking about is just
part of a bigger targeting of the queer community and
especially trans people, and so it's like tragic, like a
Pride parade gets canceled, especially because of these things, but
(13:08):
there are It's just I don't want that to be
the only headline we're taking from this.
Speaker 1 (13:14):
But I think it comes back to the point that
it took a violent event for Pride parades and things
to come about. So it's not just like it's a
swell thing. It took a violent event for this to
come out. This came it was born from the Stonewall riot,
and we need to have that conversation about like this
(13:35):
is not about showing off, which we have talked about
before that. I had had a discussion with my own parents,
who at one point in time seemed okay with the
queer community and kind of accepting of it, and they're like, okay, cool, cool, cool,
And then this rhetoric came back as of recently, and
I got the why do they have to put it
in our face? Why do they have to have a parade?
And I'm like, you don't even know when it is?
(13:55):
Tell me when when is it, So, how's it in
your face? But literally coming back to this in this
narrative of like they're just trying to show off, Like no,
they're celebrating because they had to fight to get to
this point. It's it's it is dangerous because this is
a silence and this is going against the rights of
individuals in general.
Speaker 2 (14:15):
Right, Yeah, and I mean it is super important. I
don't want to make it because people have a lot
of queer people feel very isolated, and so when you
have a moment like that where you kind of get
to meet other queer people and you get to be proud,
right and have those conversations, that is no small thing.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
I will say, it's gotten to corporate, like when you
go to a vibrate everyone is themed like at and
t Like, what the hell does that have to do?
Speaker 3 (14:41):
What?
Speaker 2 (14:41):
Right, Well, that's one of the big conversations about it
is that it's kind of gotten away from right, which
we are going to talk about in a second. Actually,
and I did read it. I wanted to include one
other thing from The Guardian where they were talking to
an owner of a theater company in Tennessee, Ale because
they were making the point like this impacts non queer
(15:03):
folks too, apart from it being a humans rights thing
that you should care about. But also, here's the quote,
can we still produce Peter Pan with a female Pan?
Can we do missus doubtfire? Is it okay for us
to put on Shakespeare the way was traditionally performed? But
also I have a feeling is going to be very
(15:24):
specifically targeted when they enforce it and when they don't.
Speaker 3 (15:28):
Obviously, Yeah, but.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
Yeah, let's talk about Let's talk about the corporate aspect
you were discussing, because we have seen a lot of
company backlash, and I've seen several articles that have made
the point because this is also you know, I feel
like a lot of times these take up a lot
of space, and here I am talking about it. But
I think it's interesting in that a lot of the
articles I've read had said this just shows how toxic
(16:07):
and how much backwards were going, because this didn't used
to be kind of such a big flash point for companies.
Companies could usually have something for Pride Month, and they
didn't experience as much backlash as they are now. So
(16:29):
I do want to say, like at the top of this,
it is weird to me companies trying to cash in
on pride, and I don't no. I mean, obviously, I
guess these aren't sponsors. I don't necessarily support them. But yeah,
as someone who works for a big company, you and
(16:49):
I talk about this all the time because we get
requests like this all the time, not just for Pride,
like for every like whatever the month is, we get
a request about it, and we're always like, well, what,
like back it up? What are you just saying these things?
Like what give us some kind of because a lot
of times they'll say like, we're donating to this, and
I'm like, how much are you donating? How often are
(17:11):
you donating? Like and then we never hear back.
Speaker 1 (17:14):
You right, and then just looking at the track record
and you realize who they play both sides, y e.
Speaker 2 (17:22):
Right. So at the end of the day, these are companies.
They are looking to make money. They are not consistent.
They often donate to all kinds of opposing things, right,
So they're not allies. They're just not. But okay, they
could do a lot better. I'll say that. And let's
start with bud Light. I know it's old news now
(17:42):
you've all heard about it, that bud Light faced a
huge backlash after sending trans influencer Dylan Ulvany a can
of beer with her face on it, and she showed
it during an Instagram post. It was a very typical Instagram.
Speaker 1 (17:55):
An endorsement, like she really wasn't making really much money
other than TikTok money.
Speaker 2 (18:00):
No, It's like it was just such a like, oh, yeah,
there you go. It's a normal video and.
Speaker 1 (18:08):
The amount of people throwing out cans of beer, like
you already bought it, dude, do you really think that's
doing something right? Not knowing that Anheuser Busch is a
giant company that most of the beers that you're drinking
so calm us down.
Speaker 2 (18:22):
And like a lot of other stuff too. They own
a lot.
Speaker 1 (18:27):
And what's so funny is this did not make any
I don't think any of the liberal people going I
have to go buy Budweiser, Like that wasn't a thing
like that didn't We were like, Okay.
Speaker 2 (18:36):
No, the whole thing is so ridiculous and it's so
performative and it's so incredibly a waste of time. And yeah,
there was like all of these videos that were getting
posted of people shooting beer.
Speaker 1 (18:51):
Which is a thing by the way, we had a
local brewery that did that because they got complaints about
their beer and so they're mad and they shot up
their beer with Ak's were like, why do this?
Speaker 2 (19:02):
Why does it makes sense?
Speaker 3 (19:04):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (19:04):
And honestly, though, the biggest thing that we should talk
about with this is the fact that Dylan mulvaney was
braided with so much harassment just because she was thankful
that someone noticed her, like that's the end of the story.
And she has been like, I think she would offer
social media for a while because she had so many
(19:26):
death threats and doxing and going after her, but Budweiser gave.
Speaker 2 (19:29):
No, No, they didn't, and that is an unfortunate trend.
We see a lot and as you said, you can
make money on TikTok and so that is like a
financial I mean, obviously an emotional harm, but a financial harm,
and it is a harm that impacts an entire community
who was witnessing this. And it was incredibly disheartening too,
(19:52):
because the company then they released a statement and they
said they quote never tended to be part of a
discussion that divides people, and released a very but like
I'll say, like Generic America commercial.
Speaker 3 (20:12):
That was.
Speaker 2 (20:12):
It was like embarrassing how hard they were trying to
be like whoa America for everybody? Clearly you're not, you're.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Not if you're ashaming and you're ashamed because you sent
a beer.
Speaker 2 (20:26):
Mm hmmm, well this is the thing too. It's like
I read a really good thread about how this is.
This is an example of how clearly like this whole
like we never intended to be a part of a
discussion that divides people. That they'd never they just want
to like get the credit, but didn't stop to think
of this is what a queer person faces every day.
(20:48):
And so then then they get some of this backlash
and like oh no, retreat, retreat. And the thing is
the company because they both they backtracked. Now they've like
pissed off everybody, everybody, everybody. They reported they all up
(21:10):
their US marketing budget three times to make up for
the loss of revenue caused by this, which again is ridiculous.
This is ridiculous. And now let us talk about what
is happening with Target. So in May, Target removed or
(21:31):
moved items to the back some of their prideline, particularly
around trans folks, because they actually had like two hundred
items or something in certain Southern stores because of confrontations
and threats that they reported were being experienced by their employees,
like things getting turned over, yelling, all that kind of stuff.
(21:52):
The statement was very vague. It was issued days after
the CEO spoke about inclusivity, and the big target of
it of the eyre was something called the tuch Friendly
bathing suit, which was supposed to be for trans people,
and there's a lot of Disney information and misinformation around it,
with conservative pundits claiming it was targeted towards kids. It
(22:15):
wasn't that. That was the story that I got told
and passed around, and then people got so angry about
it and we're focusing about it. And then, of course
after this happened, activists expressed their frustration that instead of
targeting bad customers, they kind of just gave it and
removed the products.
Speaker 1 (22:35):
And a lot of the products were from small businesses,
which was a big thing that target was trying to
say that they are a part of as well at
bringing in small businesses, and instead they've everyone over, not
just the quick community, but the small businesses that they
are so proud about, including.
Speaker 2 (22:50):
Right yeah, and it some of the designers reported they
were getting so many death threats. They were glad when
their stuff got removed, but they should have had support
right from Target. Right, it's just it shouldn't be a thing.
And like I was saying, it's especially it's it's just
(23:13):
it's so very corporate to want to cash in on
something without taking the time to understand it and just
conveniently bowing out right when you can. And it's it's
in another example of violent extremists controlling the narrative with
things like abortion as well. And it's disheartening too because
Target does have a history of taking steps to be inclusive.
(23:35):
Right after a lot of the bathroom bands were happening
in twenty sixteen, they like went out of their way
to make sure like, no, we're going to have these bathrooms,
and the they have been because of that the Target
fun I guess I didn't mean to of threats before,
which isn't right, Like people shouldn't be threatened. I'm not
(23:57):
saying like if the work a workspace should be safe
at all, but it's just sophelic we're not punishing the
right people or we're not taking the right steps to
make it so that's not the case for anyone.
Speaker 1 (24:10):
Right, I mean when it comes down to when you
see content like this, and I would be I would
like to see the statistics, especially when it's online trolling,
how often they are bots or one person doing ten
different usernames, because we know the narrative is a majority
of people don't care, like even if they are probably
(24:32):
biggest or homophobic, they don't get on the computer. Like
my parents, who would be what I would call homophobic.
They don't touch the computer, my sister, my brother, not
to target. They complain on Facebook, sure, but they don't
go you know what I mean. That takes a long time,
so I don't I've never met one person in my
(24:53):
conservative lifetime that actually went and did this, So I'm
really wondering who is the one that are complaining honestly,
as well as the fact that I understand you want
to protect your employees, but like you said, this is
an easy way out instead of having knowing that you
are a private business so that you can escort these
people out real quickly, real quickly.
Speaker 2 (25:14):
Yeah, and once again, as you said, they've up because
now that everybody's like that.
Speaker 1 (25:22):
Because because the rebservatives are not coming back to say
I forgive you. That's not a thing they do.
Speaker 2 (25:26):
No, And now queer people are just people who have
like queer people in their lives are like, well, now
I don't feel like I'm supported here, And it's ridiculous,
I say it again, because other companies who who probably
don't have great track records either. We all shop at
places where we don't necessarily agree with their politics, right,
all of us. But now we're going to other places
(25:51):
that who knows, but at least their queer stuff is
still there. All right?
Speaker 1 (25:56):
Oh, I think Walmart, Walmart, who I don't up there
at all, but.
Speaker 2 (26:01):
Exactly that's what I kept seeing. And I'm not saying
like that's good or right at all, but it's just.
Speaker 1 (26:06):
Right because they're just cashing in as well. But at
least they're not backpacking.
Speaker 2 (26:10):
I guess it's it's just a mess. It's just such
a mess. We're speaking of we Oh my gosh, all right,
we got to talk about this whole thing that's going
on with Disney and DeSantis, which I just saw a
headline update today about it. So this is this is
wildly changing, and I'm going to condense it because it's
(26:30):
like several years in the making. Actually so, after pressure
from consumers and employees, and what I gather is just
plain annoyance at DeSantis's attempts to control and censor them,
Disney announced that it wasn't cool with the Don't Say
Gay bill censoring discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity
in the classroom, and there has been so much legal
(26:54):
back and forth about this. Allegedly, then Disney CEO Bob
Chapek signed a statement protesting the bill and called DeSantis
to express his concerns. A few days later, DeSantis released
this statement, woke Disney is now echoing Democrat propaganda and
falling for the corporate media's phony hysteria over a Florida
(27:17):
bill that sensibly prohibits K through third graders from being
inductrinated with transgenderism and r rated lessons about sexuality. In response,
Chapek announced he'd pause all political donations in Florida and
released a statement to employees who had long been calling
for the company to do more, quote, you needed me
(27:38):
to be a stronger ally in the fight for equal rights,
and I let you down. I am sorry. So this
was in part due to a report that found that
Disney had donated thousands not only to DeSantis, but other
anti LGBTQ plus politicians in Florida. So employees, I think
we talked about this when it happened, like they were
protesting walking out, and yeah, Disney cast members stage walkouts.
(28:04):
Even after that savement due to Chipek's lack of action,
some employees staged daily walkouts, and creators reported being censored.
I believe we talked about that turning red because they
said they had a more explicit queer storyline that they
had to take out. A few months later, the Florida
(28:25):
legislature voted to end the quote special districts put into
place before nineteen sixty eight, including one that gives Walt
Disney World Resort essentially its own government, during their special session.
Now here, I want to say a note, I do
not know if any company should have this, but it
was clearly an act of political retribution, all right. In
(28:47):
twenty twenty three, Dessanta's passed a bill changing the name
of this district and appointing a five person oversight board
of directors to it. However, the current members at the
time signed a development deal with the company to give
it a max developmental power for thirty years, and they
invoked some kind of king Charles.
Speaker 1 (29:09):
Oh yeah, so they went after it by saying, as
to the old monarchy, that King Charles, the current one
that just got inducted as the king after his last
descendant dies and then thirty years after that. So right
now he has grandkids that are infants and toddlers, and
probably more kids will be on the way. Let's just
(29:30):
do it on us. So they have a because like
if when the grand kids get married, he'll have more descendants,
so essentially never ending.
Speaker 2 (29:40):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (29:40):
Of course, if we remember correctly, the board of directors,
the original members were voted in, I believe, and this
one was uprooted and he appointed, which is called a
dictatorship or fascist.
Speaker 2 (29:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:54):
Anyway, so Dissentis's board is terrifying. This is his cronies,
his last, all the things. Here's something from CNN. The
governor also appointed the CEO of a right wing ministry
and the founder of the right wing activist groups Moms
for Liberty, Horrifying, which the governor has supported to transform
(30:14):
local school boards. Board member Ron Perry, CEO of the
Gathering USA ministry, was captured in a since deleted YouTube
video suggesting tapwater has turned Americans gay. This is not
to harp on Florida, because I know things are changing.
Good for you, Jacksonville bringing in a Democratic mayor, Good
(30:36):
for you, Proud of you. She's still a politician though.
But all had to say is this kind of like
you see the whole Like, yeah, Florida used to be
that state that had all the ex cons right, all
the all the cons at the beginning of what it
was like the thirteen member union. That makes sense. I'm
(30:56):
gonna yell that by somebody from Florida.
Speaker 2 (31:00):
I saw a whole bit about this where somebody yelled
at a comedian, not yelled, but was like, why do
we always make fun of Florida?
Speaker 1 (31:07):
And there I think the majority of Floridians are not
like this that much like Georgia, they have done really
well in butchering the Vote Vot Voting Rights Act and
therefore being able to put what they want and try
to dictate the results that they want. So I do
know that we love you still. I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (31:31):
Yes, well, DeSantis, in this escalating fight, did threaten to
put a prison next to Disney World, amongst other things. Also,
he got married in Disney World, by the way, just
to put that out there. So, yes, he put into
places very discouncil, very conservative people. After he officially dissolved
(31:53):
the Randy Creek District, which was the original district. However, yeah,
Disney had found a way to effectively make them powerless.
It's still going back and forth though, because DeSantis ordered
an investigation. Disney filed a lawsuit against DeSantis in April
twenty twenty three, alleging he was engaging in a quote
targeted campaign of government retaliation and was violating their First
(32:15):
Amendment rights. Then DeSantis's installed boards sued Disney back, saying
they quote had no choice but to respond, I.
Speaker 1 (32:26):
Know, I'm sorry.
Speaker 2 (32:27):
That is.
Speaker 3 (32:29):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (32:30):
It was basically like, well she hit me first, was like,
I'm rubber, You're glue.
Speaker 1 (32:36):
What bounds off me?
Speaker 2 (32:37):
Stick to you?
Speaker 1 (32:38):
Like, that's essentially what's happened.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
Right, Yes, and then Disney canceled plans for a one
billion dollar campus in Orlando that I think was going
to be used to like for animation for movies. From
the New York Times quote it would have brought more
than two Disney jobs to the region, with one hundred
(33:02):
and twenty thousand as the average salary according to an
estimate from the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity, though I
didn't want to say. Note some of the employees were
not happy about the potential of being relocated because a
lot of them were going to come from California, I believe,
and some people quit because they didn't want to be relocated.
(33:23):
So and this was also they wanted to make this
change so the company could benefit from the state's tax credit.
And then California officials called on Disney to build the
campus there, and it was like, the worker's already here.
Speaker 1 (33:37):
It's a bidding war.
Speaker 2 (33:39):
Yeah, exactly. I just want to make sure because who's
to say if the jobs would have gone to people
in Florida. I guess that's what I'm saying. But right then,
because this has to get even more ridiculous, North Carolina
introduced a bill targeting at getting Disney to relocate. It
was called the Mickey's Freedom Restoration Act. Still, as of now,
(34:02):
Disney is set to invest seventeen billion dollars in central
Florida over the next ten years. Disney is also set
to host the quote largest LGBT plus conference in the
world beginning in September. People have express concerns about vacationing
in Florida now because of this, and the NAACP issued
a Trapel advisory recently. And I do also want to say, like,
(34:28):
I really don't like Desantas. I want to be a
thousand percent clear on that, but I also don't want
to paint Disney in like like they don't have the
best in history in this right, Like there's still a
company that is trying to make money. A lot of
what's happening here is because of the consumers and employees pushing.
(34:49):
So just just to keep that in mind, some people
are saying that this is whole thing is kind of
trying Disney trying to cover following profits and massive layoffs.
I don't think that's true. I'm sure that might be
part of it.
Speaker 1 (35:03):
That's the conspiracy theory that conservatives is not really because right.
Speaker 2 (35:11):
And it's so frustrating too, because I mean, we could
heart all day about the hypocrisy we're saying over and
over again, but for a party and a politician who's
constantly like, you know, corporate leave corporations alone, privacy, Like
if I mean, can you imagine can you imagine he's
(35:35):
trying to install his own people to control a company.
Speaker 1 (35:38):
Right, like a billion dollar company, better national company, right.
Speaker 2 (35:45):
Stunning hypocrisy. All right, Now, I did want to do
a quick updates on the Don't Say Gay Bill because
(36:08):
it has been updated to extend to twelfth grade. Now
in April twenty twenty three, it was extended from ap quote.
The rule change would ban lessons on sexual orientation and
gender identity from grades four through twelve unless required by
existing state standards or as part of reproductive health instruction
that students can choose not to take. That's the time
(36:29):
when students are becoming aware of their sexuality. So really
digging in the heels. I do want to say, kind
of like what we talked about two with the book
banning episode, there has been a lot of instances of
young people protesting, staging walkouts, or not being able to
fly Pride flags like so that's heartening to see, but
(36:50):
it's this is very upsetting and horrifying. There was a
story that came out related to that about how ridiculous
and confusing all of this is.
Speaker 1 (37:00):
Right, yeah, and they're still talking about all the aftermath.
But a Florida teacher was investigated after showing the Disney
film Strange Worlds to fifth graders because of his inclusion
of a gay character. The teacher claimed she showed it
because it was relevant to her curriculum on ecosystems. The
investigation was recently closed and the teacher had all the
necessary forms aside beforehand. She expressed fear at the uncertainty
(37:23):
of the environment and the parent who reported her. Shanon
Rodriguez reported her to Florida state officials for violating Don't
Say Gay. A petition for her removal from the local
school board garnered sixteen thousand signatures over two weeks. She
said at the school board meeting, you showed a movie
that wasn't sanctioned at school material, thus stripping the innocence
(37:44):
of my ten year old.
Speaker 2 (37:49):
Movie.
Speaker 1 (37:50):
Yeah, a Disney movie PG cartoon that had a character
not be talking about being gay, necessarily being in a
gay relationship, just being gay. That was just there.
Speaker 2 (38:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (38:01):
I know that the teacher has fired back at this
as well. It has been all over social media talking
about it and news. I did also see just recently
a veteran who was hardcore veteran came against all of
the school board talking about how he had fought fascism
during his time in the military and now he's having
(38:23):
to fight it in the schools and in Florida today,
which is so good to see that people are standing
up for this. And again I think the much like
Georgia and the Minia, the South Florida is not as
heavily in favor of things like this. This is a
political stunt. We knew it was the sanest wants to
(38:43):
compete against Trump, which is a whole different conversation, but
because of this, because they're the loudest, it does seem
like this is the majority of Florida, and that's not true.
Speaker 2 (38:59):
Right, And that's thing we also discussed in the book
Banning One and that woman that we mentioned that was
appointed to the council. The santisis Council of Moms for Liberty.
Like it's an organized effort done by not that many people,
but they are very They've been very effective at organizing
(39:19):
and getting people in rooms and making these scenes and
being like very distracting. And I also the teacher said
she didn't realize that the rule had changed, and she
also didn't really think about like the gay character being
in there, so that's just an example of how confusing
(39:40):
all of this is. And a final note before we
move on about this, Cat superfan super listener Cat wrote
in recently expressing their frustration around a politician doing something
similar where they were but kind of on the flip side,
(40:03):
where they were saying like, we could do this kind
of pride event, but we really shouldn't have a pride
parade because the you know, the atmosphere or the environment
is not correct for it. So kind of being like
I super support you, yeah, not backing it up at all,
and trying to appease with well, what about this, This
should be enough, you don't need anything else, and not
(40:24):
listening to all of the complaints from the citizens who
were saying like, no, we want to have a pride parade,
like this is not and then the politician getting angry
and saying essentially like you're asking for too much, like
I'm doing my best. So that's also We've been talking
(40:44):
a lot about companies, but politicians absolutely do do it too.
And then finally I wanted to end with I would
say this is kind of an up note. I don't know,
but there's an article came out that a couple of
you listeners have written about this, and I thought it
was really interesting about how during the pandemic you have
(41:08):
found your identity or you have like realized like, oh,
I actually identified this way. It turns out you are
not alone. So this article was talking about why that
might be, and they were saying things like taking time
to stop and think, not being distracted by socialization or commutes,
being able to hear quote the quiet voice, to face
(41:30):
things that you've ignored. A lot of people that interviewed said,
it's not like I was in denial. It's more like
I just had never taken the time to hear that
quiet voice. A lot of things around reflection and introspection.
I had the question I had who are you performing for?
I had that a lot during the pandemic, of like, well,
who was this for all along? But also being online
(41:53):
more during quarantine and connecting to others like you, which
was part of a larger trend. They made sure to say, like,
there's no actual data on this, this is just a
lot of people reporting it, but it was also kind
of a trend that was happening. Ever since, we have
gotten more online and we have been able to make
those connections some people were talking about fear around death
and not wanting to die without being honest about who
(42:15):
you are, without thinking about what do you really want
out of life, And then a lot of people reported
kind of this internalized ageist understanding that coming out is
only for young people and once you reach a certain age,
like it's too late, especially if they had like a
homophobic family or something. So I just thought that was
(42:38):
really fascinating, especially because we've gotten several throughout the pandemic.
A lot of you have written in about that, So yeah,
just something to think about. Yes, I know this isn't
the easiest episode, but we have to talk about this
stuff and we do have a lot of fun content
around the queer community coming out. I hope everyone has
(43:01):
a happy, lovely, safe pride and let us know what
you're doing or if there's anything else we should talk about,
any resources we should shout out. You can email us
at seffidm moms Stuff at iHeartMedia dot com. You can
find us on Twitter at Moms Step podcast, or on
Instagram and TikTok at stuff when Neyver told you. You
can also find us on YouTube, and we have a
tea public store. You can check some stuff out we
(43:22):
have on only have a couple of designs on there right now,
but some more stuff is coming. We also have a
book you can pre order. It's that stuff you should
read books dot com. Thanks as alwis to our super
producer Christina, our executive producer Maya, and our contributor Joey.
Thank you and thanks to you for listening stuff on
every total et protection of iHeartRadio. For a podcast from
my heart Radio, you can check out the i heart
Radio app Apple Podcast where you listen to your favorite shows.
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