Last year, the Florida legislature, acting on Governor DeSantis’ behalf, dissolved the Reedy Creek Improvement District, a special arrangement created by the legislature in 1967 that allowed the Disney Corporation to take responsibility for all public services. It was punishment for Disney speaking out against DeSantis’ “Don’t Say Gay” legislation. Disney was acting at the behest of its employees. The dissolution of the special district meant that the counties where Disney World is located would be saddled with $1 billion or more of new taxes to pay for services and bond debts. That was politically unacceptable.
The legislature fixed the problem by leaving the special district intact, but putting it under the control of a new five member commission, called the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District. DeSantis is empowered to appoint all five members. Surprised? He chose loyalists for the board, people who share his views. Most are either big campaign contributors or Christian nationalists or both.
One of the five commissioners, Ron Peri, is a Christian pastor who leads a group called The Gathering. He is known for his hostility to homosexuality. He recently warned that drinking tap water might turn you gay. This is very alarming because most Americans drink tap water. Is he shilling for the bottled water industry?
Another appointee to the new board is Bridget Ziegler, founder of Moms for Liberty and wife of the chairman of the Florida Republican Party, the same guy who advocates eliminating the Democratic Party in the state.
Will the DeSantis board act as morality police? Will they scrutinize and sanitize every exhibit, show, and performer at Disney World? Will gender-neutral bathrooms be eliminated? Will tourists be required to display their birth certificates on entering a bathroom to ensure that they are using the gender assigned at birth? We will see.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Could it get any more inane???
How about any more insane???
That too…
Depends on the neighborhood. Like Edith Bunker once asked: how do the toilet water and the sink water stay separated? Now they know how to separate straight from gay water! It’s the trans water that seems to confuse.
The appointment of an oversight committee of zealots in the wake of a political disagreement is chilling. This steps toward extreme government control. Don’t use the word Communist, though Hugo Chavez would likely have been as comfortable with this degree of control as Mussolini. Use the word fascist if you like, but recall that a fascist looks like its leader. Maybe DeSantis is more like Franco. How about Samoza? Perhaps he is Stalin. Could he be a guy who will OK stealing babies so they can be raised to be good followers of DeSantis. Maybe he will be content to pester Disney for publicity, moving on to another public stunt when that bid for attention numbs its brain-dead audience.
The Nicaraguan dictator was Anastasio Somoza. But let’s not forget Pinochet or Franco (who by the way is still dead) or Peron, Castro, or many others supported by America around the world.
DeSantis is using the tRump playbook in making outrageous statements that keeps him in the news. How many other governors of states can you name off the top of your head. And the mainstream and social media keep on giving him free air time just like they did for the tRump in his lead up to the 2016 primaries and election. Remember, any publicity is good publicity for mediocre shithead politicians.
Long ago, Republicans, the party of corporate profit, made a Faustian bargain with religious zealots and hard-core racists to win and hold power. Now, there is no turning back because profit at public expense is unpopular. They’ve got nothing to run on but hatred and the very resentments they’ve promoted.
They’ve?? You mean they and FuxNews have promoted.
I wonder how much it would cost Disney to move its parks out of Florida to another state.
“Shortly after the legislation was proposed, Colorado Governor Jared Polis, a Democrat, invited Disney to relocate to his state while accusing DeSantis of “socialist attacks” against the company. He also urged Twitter to move to the state after DeSantis threatened the company for moving to block Elon Musk’s hostile takeover bid, although the social media giant is currently based in California.
“Florida’s authoritarian socialist attacks on the private sector are driving businesses away. In CO, we don’t meddle in affairs of companies like @Disney or @Twitter,” Polis tweeted on Tuesday. “Hey @Disney we’re ready for Mountain Disneyland and @twitter we’re ready for Twitter HQ2, whoever your owners are.”
https://www.newsweek.com/other-states-invite-disney-after-florida-strips-theme-park-autonomy-1700265
How much of a subsidy and tax breaks would Colorado or another state have to offer Disney to make the move happen?
“What percentage of Florida’s economy is based on Disney?
2.5 percent
(Disney World outperforms California’s Disneyland). Disney World does wonders for the Florida economy. According to a 2011 report, “The $18.2 billion in annual economic activity generated locally by Walt Disney Parks and Resorts accounts for 2.5 percent of Florida’s gross domestic product.”Sep 20, 2022”
Some Republicans are upset about DeSantis’ attacks on a private corporation. They don’t care what he does in the public sphere, but when he lashes out against corporate freedom, that’s too much.
Disney won’t locate to a cold climate.
New Mexico might be the only reasonable option for them.
But it would still cost them a fortune to move.
Disney is waiting to see how much DeSantis interferes with their programming and how much censorship he imposes.
I doubt they could move anywhere because of sunk costs.
It must have been the fluorine in the water that got to Matt Schlapp -er.
Floridated* tap water is a Commie plot to adulterate your precious bodily fluids.
*No, that’s not a misspelling.
Haha, that’s funny. I remember when municipalities first proposed fluoridation of the water, and conspiracy theorists said it was a Communist plot. Now we hear it might turn you gay.
Are the board members paid?
I don’t know. I’ll let you know if I see anything.
https://news.berkeley.edu/2010/03/01/frogs/#:~:text=Working%20with%20the%20African%20clawed,and%20male%20(testes)%20gonads.
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.0909519107
https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.082121499
This idiot confused stories about atrazine in water making frogs hermaphoditic that had been picked up and promoted by the likes of Joe Rogan. See the links I posted above. What those studies show, ofc, is that we need stricter regulation of drinking water, not an attempt like that made by the Trump maladministration to remove water regulations altogether.
So, the science behind that is real, but these people are extremely confused about what the science means.
Good thing my well water hasn’t been through a Floridian filter.
There are probably more well educated men to the left of center that may share the birth control pill, phytoestrogen, endocrine endocrine disruptor concern than you may think. There are a lot of guys that won’t eat soy veggie patties, but will eat pea protein veggie patties, etc.
Separate from the LGBTQ issue, our water treatment systems in this country, in most cases, are in serious need of upgrade. A lot of municipal systems are old and full of leaks. Middle class and affluent people buy a lot of bottled water.