Conservative Catholic activists in Africa have warned the newly-appointed CEO of Disney to desist from promoting a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBTQ) agenda in content meant for children.
Disney, a global leader in the entertainment industry, recently came under fire for what many conservatives consider its pro-gay agenda.
The company’s new CEO, Robert Iger, who was appointed Nov 20, has gotten a not too friendly reception in Africa. Members of CitizensGo Africa, the African branch of the far-right Catholic activist organization CitizenGo founded in Spain in 2013, have launched a petition warning Iger against injecting LGBTQ+ ideas into children’s content.
“CEO Bob Chapek, one of the main crusaders for Disney’s turn to ‘wokeism’ and its incorporation of LGBT ideology in its products, has been fired and replaced by his predecessor Robert Iger, in an embarrassing fashion,” the activists say.
The activists have urged Iger to “return (the company) to family values, instead of being the ruinous factory of LGBTQ+ indoctrination that it is now.”
They accused the media company of “becoming a perverse indoctrination machine that is a slave to the LGBTQ+ agenda.”
“The radical left is seeking to groom children to adopt a radical LGBTQ+ lifestyle, and Disney is actively helping them do it,” the petition asserts. “Disney’s corporate president Karey Burke stated in April she would like to see 50 percent of characters as LGBTQ+ or other politically chosen minorities.”
“Soon after, for the very first time in history, Disney included a lesbian kiss in a movie for children,” the petition says, referring to the film “Lightyear,” which has been banned in 14 Middle Eastern and Asian countries over the scene.
In 2017, the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) banned a Disney teen television show from screening in Kenya, claiming that “Andi Mack” contains “scenes with subtle messages that seek to normalize homosexuality among young people.”
Such content was a “deliberate glorification of homosexuality” and “is, without doubt, part of a wider scheme by the media to promote the Lesbian Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBTQ) agenda among children through TV programs,” the board’s ruling said.
Ezekiel Mutua, CEO of the KFCB, asserted that “gay content will not air in Kenya. PERIOD!” He added that, “When it comes to protecting children from exposure to bad content we are resolute and unapologetic.”
In June this year, Egypt’s Al-Azhar lashed out at Disney over plans to introduce gay characters in its movies.
In a June 9 statement, the Al-Azhar Fatwa Global Center condemned homosexuality as “obscene” and “reprehensible.” It said the push to include LGBT content in movies is a “systematic diabolical plan to normalize the immoral crime of homosexuality in Muslim societies.”
The statement further notes that the plan “aims to destroy the system of moral and social values of the family institution, distort the identity of its members, and tamper with the security and stability of societies.”
“There are attempts to impose a culture of homosexuality on the Islamic world under the pretext of accepting the other,” it said.
Some observers have linked Disney’s current financial difficulties to its growing association with a pro-LGBTQ agenda.
The company’s stocks have fallen by 40 percent since 2021 when the former CEO, Bob Chapek, took charge. It was a loss further compounded by the COVID 19 pandemic, that saw the company losing over $10 billion.
“Disney has always relied on families for the vast majority of its revenue, and their financial situation as of late reflects precisely this,” CitizensGo Africa states.
“Over the last years, the company has alienated the interests of families, and completely ignored the voices of parents, and instead, has sided with the LGBT lobby,” the organization said.
“Now, Bob Chapek is gone. We have a historic opportunity to demonstrate to the new CEO of Disney, Robert Iger, that championing ‘woke’ political causes damages the relationship with audiences and drives them to the downfall eventually.”
