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Story: Pixar employees are speaking out about alleged censorship they faced when attempting to include moments of same-sex sentiment in their films. In a statement attributed to “the LGBTQIA+ employees of Pixar, and their allies” obtained by *[Variety](https://variety.com/2022/film/news/disney-pixar-same-sex-affection-censorship-dont-say-gay-bill-1235200582/),* the employees allege that corporate executives at Disney, Pixar’s parent company, have axed “nearly every moment of overtly gay affection” they’ve tried to insert into their work, “regardless of when there is protest from both the creative teams and executive leadership at Pixar.”

Disney is currently receiving harsh backlash from the LGBTQIA+ community for its [initial response](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2022/03/disney-dont-say-gay-bill) to Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill, as well as the studio’s [reported financial support](https://www.orlandosentinel.com/opinion/scott-maxwell-commentary/os-prem-op-florida-business-disney-dont-say-gay-scott-maxwell-20220225-b7pxbrc4pfdmxbm2ypo5bpw23e-story.html) for all of the bill’s sponsors and cosponsors. The statement from the Pixar employees is a response to a company-wide memo sent by Disney CEO **Bob Chapek,** in which Chapek said that the “biggest impact we can have in creating a more inclusive world is through the inspiring content we produce.”

But the Pixar employees behind the letter say they’ve felt stifled and stymied in their attempts to include more inclusive content in their films. “We at Pixar have personally witnessed beautiful stories, full of diverse characters, come back from Disney corporate reviews shaved down to crumbs of what they once were,” the letter states. “Even if creating LGBTQIA+ content was the answer to fixing the discriminatory legislation in the world, we are being barred from creating it.”

Pixar made headlines in 2020 for introducing its first openly gay character, Specter—a cyclops police officer voiced by **Lena Waithe**—in the film *Onward.* As *Variety* notes, Specter’s queer identity, however, was only addressed in passing, with the line: “It’s not easy being a new parent—my girlfriend’s daughter got me pulling my hair out, okay?” *Onward* was banned in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, and Saudi Arabia due to the scene, and the word “girlfriend” was changed to “partner” in the Russian release of the film, according to *Variety.* Disney also released *Out,* a short film about a gay man who struggles with coming out to his parents, on Disney+ that same year.

The Pixar employee letter demands that Disney withdraw financial support for all legislators who supported the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and “take a decisive public stand” against all such legislation. At a shareholder’s meeting on Wednesday, Chapek said that Disney would pledge $5 million to the Human Rights Campaign and other LGBTQ rights organizations, and said that he called Florida governor **Ron DeSantis** to discuss Disney’s “concern” with the bill. The Human Rights Campaign later [announced](https://www.hrc.org/press-releases/human-rights-campaign-refuses-money-from-disney-until-meaningful-action-is-taken-to-combat-floridas-dont-say-gay-or-trans-bill) that they would refuse Disney’s donation until “meaningful action is taken to combat” the legislation.

#disney #reaction