Disney Executive Promises More LGBTQ Characters in Movies

Karey Burke, president of Disney’s General Entertainment, said in a recent meeting that the company needs to do more to make its content more diverse and inclusive with unrepresented communities such as the LGBTQ community. The meeting was held as part of the “Reimagine Tomorrow” campaign from Disney.

“I am here as a mother of two queer children,” Burke said during the conference, “one transgender child and one pansexual child, and also as a leader.” 

The “Reimagine Tomorrow” website promises that by this year, 50% of Disney characters will come from underrepresented groups. 

In a video clip posted on Twitter by Christopher Rufo, Burke says that her son texted her saying that “‘Gen Z is 30 to 40% queer than other generations, so Disney better get with it.’”

Burke also says that she was surprised to learn from one of her colleges that the company only had a “handful” of queer lead characters in its content. “And I went, ‘What? That can’t be true,’” Burke says. “And I realized it actually is true.” 

Burke adds, “We have many, many, many, LGBTQIA characters in our stories, and yet we don’t have enough leads and narratives in which gay characters just get to be characters.”

Disney has also eliminated its lifelong greeting at Disney World: “Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girl,” from its Magic Kingdom fireworks show; it was replaced with a new, inclusive greeting that says, “Good evening, dreamers of all ages.”

At the same meeting, Disney diversity and inclusion manager Vivian Ware said that the company is in the process of changing recorder messages in parks to similarly promote more inclusive verbiage.

“Last summer, we removed all gendered greetings in relation to our live spiels,” Ware says. 

Disney’s new push about inclusivity comes after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed a law that bans Florida teachers from discussing LGBTQ topics with students, unless they are in fourth grade or higher.

While Disney leaders eventually spoke out against the law, many put pressure on the company to take a stance given reports that it has contributed money to the bill’s sponsors and the fact that corporate executives have cut out LGBTQ references and affection from their films.