Florida congressional candidate applauds DeSantis for having 'backbone to stand up to corporations like Disney'
Florida congressional candidate and Disney employee Jose Castillo on the feud between the corporation and Governor DeSantis just after the legislature passed a bill to strip Disney of self-governing powers.
Most Disney employees oppose left-leaning efforts to promote inclusion, such as the recent change to the "Fairy Godmother"-themed titles at the Bibbidi Boppidi Boutiques at Walt Disney World in Florida and Disneyland in California igniting internet outrage, a Disney cast member told Fox News Digital.
"There is a plaque as you enter Disney World that reads 'Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow, and fantasy,' but increasingly it's becoming the world of wokeness, political correctness, and indoctrination," Jose Castillo, a current Walt Disney Company employee who is running for Congress in Florida as a Republican, told Fox News Digital on Wednesday. "This isn't what Walt Disney envisioned, and it isn't what Disney's fans signed up for."
Cast members of the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique, once called "Fairy Godmothers in Training," now bear the title "Fairy Godmother's Apprentices," in an apparent attempt to be gender-neutral, Walt Disney World News Today shared on Tuesday. The Disney-focused blog Streaming the Magic suggested that due to the name change, "cast members that might not identify as female can still be part of the process to dress up & style the children without having to refer to themselves as a female Disney character."
Disney appears to have made the change ahead of the boutique's reopening on Aug. 25, following its closure during the coronavirus pandemic. Disney did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Mickey Mouse waves to fans during a parade at Walt Disney World Resort on March 03, 2022, in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images for Disney Dreamers Academy)
"This is basically just another unnecessary political statement and more pandering to the fringe left," Castillo told Fox News Digital. "It seems that Disney's executives just can't help themselves. They continue to double down on extreme wokeness, which only serves to alienate their customers and employees."
"Plenty of my colleagues here at Disney have been with the company for decades – they can't wait to retire, because of this constant pushing of radical agendas," Castillo added. "I can't stress enough that the majority of people working at Disney do not support this stuff."
Jose Castillo, a Disney employee running for Congress in Florida. (Fox News Channel)
‘SILENT MAJORITY’ OF DISNEY EMPLOYEES SUPPORT FLORIDA LAW, DISNEY EMPLOYEE RUNNING FOR CONGRESS SAYS
Castillo previously told Fox News Digital that a "silent majority" of Disney employees support the Florida parental rights law H.B. 1557, even though the company has taken a public stance against it after LGBTQ employees protested. Despite critics branding it a "Don't Say Gay" law, it does not ban the word "gay" in school settings. Rather, it prohibits classroom instruction – not casual discussion – on "sexual orientation" and "gender identity" with children in third grade or younger, "or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards."
After Disney condemned the law, the Florida legislature passed and Governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation stripping Walt Disney World of a decades-old special agreement that allowed the theme park to govern itself.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis delivers remarks at the 2022 CPAC conference at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando Feb. 24, 2022. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
In addition to opposing the law, Disney has embraced a left-leaning version of inclusivity in recent years. Last summer, the company began omitting any use of the phrase "ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls" from its parks.
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"It's frankly a shame," Castillo remarked. "Disney keeps moving further and further away from what this company used to stand for."
Jose Castillo (Jose Castillo)
He repeated the claim that most Disney employees oppose the "woke" push.
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"There is a Silent Majority among Disney employees and, I believe, Disney fans that don't believe in this Woke agenda and will reject it," Castillo insisted. "Disney executives would be wise to recognize that."
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