Disney Pronoun Pins Report Riles Up MAGA

Disney has become the target of more MAGA [Make America Great Again] conservative criticism, amid reports that employees at its Epcot theme park in Florida can now add their preferred gender pronouns to their name pins.

On Monday, right-wing website the Daily Caller reported that the new initiative has been rolled out to all janitorial employees at the park, which is located within the Walt Disney World Resort in Bay Lake. Per the report, the pin addition is added by scanning a QR code and currently remains voluntary.

According to the report, a form from the park reads: "Hi everyone, we are excited to introduce pronoun name tags in our area! Pronoun name tags help us understand each other more and bring a positive impact within our community!"

Photos were added to the article, including one that showed a poster purportedly in a custodial area. "Hello friends, we are very happy to introduce new custodial pronoun name tags," read the poster shown in the image. "With the new pronoun name tags we are all going to be able to choose an Epcot trash can!"

Epcot has yet to confirm the initiative. Newsweek has contacted representatives of Epcot via email for comment.

The report has sparked outrage among a number of MAGA conservatives, who have been fervent critics of The Walt Disney Company in recent years. A move for more diverse casting and themes in its movies has sparked backlash. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has also been a fierce critic of the entertainment giant.

Former President Donald Trump, who is the de facto face of the MAGA movement, called out Disney for "going woke" during a rally in Florida earlier this month.

Reactions to the report that the Epcot theme park is now rolling out pronouns on employees' pins have evoked the culture wars over the past several months, which saw conservatives call for boycotts of several companies that showed support for the LGBTQ+ community. The bulk of this stemmed from Bud Light's brief partnership with transgender TikTok star Dylan Mulvaney.

Taking to X, formerly Twitter, one detractor wrote about the report: "Disney World is rolling out preferred pronoun pins for employees at their Orlando theme parks. Of course @Disney they are. And of course they will expect other employees to go along with the craziness. Walt [Disney] is rolling over in his grave. #GoWokeGoBroke."

"Another place I don't need to go," said one X user, while another commented: "Just keep digging the hole Disney."

"Another reason to #DuckFisney and avoid them like they are the plague. Because they are!" another wrote.

"Just canceled my subscription to Disney Plus," another announced, while a detractor voiced their objection by posting an image of a line through the Disney logo.

Amid the outrage, some X users found the reaction to be disproportionate.

"This does seem rather silly, but at the end of the day it is their company, and their employees," wrote one. "Additionally, it hurts no one, so outrage is a tremendous overreaction."

Another countered that the initiative wasn't "silly" at all, adding that they backed the idea of a "simple pin letting others know they are a safe person to talk to about taking a pee."

Responding to the reaction, another said that those who were outraged were "such petty people."

The disapproval marks yet another round of backlash for Disney. The studio was criticized for choosing to cast Halle Bailey in the role of Ariel in the 2023 live-action remake of The Little Mermaid—including from conservative commentator Matt Walsh, who said a Black mermaid wasn't accurate from a "scientific perspective."

Latina actor Rachel Zegler, who will play Snow White in an upcoming adaptation of the 1937 animated classic, has received similar backlash, but the 22-year-old has also been slammed online for her comments about eschewing gender roles.

"I just mean that it's no longer 1937," Zegler said in response to a question from Variety at the D23 expo earlier this year.

"We absolutely wrote a Snow White that [...] she's not going to be saved by the prince, and she's not going to be dreaming about true love. She's dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be and the leader that her late father told her that she could be if she was fearless, fair, brave and true."

Since February 2022, Disney has been embroiled in a feud with Florida Governor DeSantis, after the company scrapped its political donations to the state—where its Walt Disney World Resort is located—in light of Florida's Parental Rights in Education Act.

Also known as the "Don't Say Gay" bill, the legislation was passed in March 2022 and banned LGBTQ+ education in certain grades at Florida elementary schools.

Uncommon Knowledge

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.

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