Disney gets ready to celebrate Pride amid ongoing fight with DeSantis

Disney’s acrimonious fight with Gov. Ron DeSantis surrounding culture war issues isn’t stopping the company from launching its 2023 Disney Pride Collection merchandise.

The company teased a first look at its latest merchandise that’s now selling online, as well as at Disney World and Disneyland, in a new blog post published Monday. Disney promised to reveal more details on the Pride Month celebration at its theme parks later this month.

“At Disney Parks, we want our guests and cast members to see themselves reflected in the Disney stories, experiences, and products they know and love — all year long — and we are grateful to work with members and allies of the community to deliver products that are authentic,” wrote Lisa Becket, a senior vice president of global marketing, in the blog post.

“In addition to creating products that bring the joy of Disney stories to life for our guests, I am proud of our work year-round with nonprofits that lead important programs in support of the LGBTQIA+ community around the world.”

Disney Pride 2023 features everything from rainbow colored Mickey ears, Pride spirit jerseys, Mickey pins supporting the transgender flag and other merchandise from popular Disney brands like Star Wars and Marvel.

“Many of our most popular Disney Pride Collection items will be available all year on shopDisney and in select Disney Parks retail locations,” Disney’s blog post said.

The merchandise release comes as Disney is currently suing DeSantis and the Governor-appointed members of the Central Florida Tourism Board. Disney accused officials of retaliation after the company spoke out against last year’s parental rights in education legislation, which critics call the “Don’t Say Gay” law.

Lawmakers then passed laws allowing the Governor to appoint new members onto the Reedy Creek Improvement Board (which got renamed to the Central Florida Tourism Board) and opened up Disney World’s monorail to state inspections.

“We all know there was no concerted effort to do anything to dismantle what was once called Reedy Creek special district until we spoke out on the legislation. So this is plainly a matter of retaliation,” Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger said during last week’s quarterly earnings call.