A member of the Disney family has come out publicly as transgender and spoke out against homophobic state laws sweeping many conservative local governments currently.
Charlee Corra Disney uses they/them pronouns, and their great-grandfather was the co-founder of Disney, Roy O. Disney. Charlee told The Los Angeles Times that they work as a high school science teacher, and said they were feeling like they weren’t doing enough to help this situation.
“I feel like I don’t do very much to help. I don’t call senators or take action. I felt like I could be doing more,” Corra admitted. While they have been out to friends and family for around four years, Corra chose to take this step to be more visibly out because “I didn’t see myself reflected in anyone, and that made me feel like there was something wrong with me.”
Leadership at Disney was heavily criticized for their initial response to the announcement of the now-signed Florida law banning discussions of LGBTQ+ issues that has been dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. Employees even staged a walkout in protest to the company dragging their feet to release a statement condemning the bill as it gained traction in the Florida Senate.
Earlier this month, Charlee and their parents Sheri and Roy P. Disney announced at the Human Rights Campaign’s annual gala that their family would be matching up to $500,000 in donations to the organization.
HRC refused a $5 million donation from Disney and stated, “The Human Rights Campaign will not accept this donation until we see them build on their public commitment and work with LGBTQ+ advocates to ensure that dangerous proposals, like Florida’s Don’t Say Gay or Trans bill, don’t become dangerous laws.”
Charlee said they were most concerned by the already high rates of depression, anxiety, suicide and bullying in LGBTQ kids, “Then to put something like this on top of that? They can’t learn about their community and their history at school, or play sports or use the bathroom they want to use?”
