The 30-year-old high school biology and environmental science teacher first appeared last month during a gala for the Human Rights Campaign, where they announced a $ 250,000 grant to the defense team. They told the Los Angeles Times last week that they first appeared in private as trans people four years ago. This was one of the most important acts of public support for the heir to the LGBTQ community. Charlee Disney told the Los Angeles Times, “I feel like I’re not doing much to help.” “I do not call senators or take action,” they said. “I felt I could do more.” And take more action they took. Along with their donation to HRC, Disney’s parents, Roy P. Disney – grandson of the co-founder and nephew of Walt Disney – and his wife Sheri, announced that they were going to double Charlee’s commitment to the band. “Equality is very important to us,” Roy Disney wrote in an email to The Washington Times, “especially because our child, Charlee, is a trans and proud member of the LGBTQ + community.”
He also said in an email to Roy Disney that he, his wife and their two children were “hearts” when Florida Gov. Ron DeSadis signed a law known to critics as the Do Not Say Homosexual Act. The law, officially called the Parental Education Bill, prohibits discussion in class or teaching about sexual orientation and identity in kindergarten until the third grade, as well as in older classes, when done in a which is not age-appropriate. or developmentally appropriate “. The family’s statements came after Walt Disney Company faced significant backlash over Florida law. After the company was initially silent about the legislation, its CEO, Bob Chapek, emailed the employees that he had met with LGBTQ members of the company, but that the corporate statements “do very little to change the results or the minds”. “Simply put, they can be counterproductive and undermine more effective ways to bring about change,” Chapek wrote, according to the Los Angeles Times. The Walt Disney Company later issued a statement saying the law “should never have been signed into law.” Statement from the Walt Disney Company regarding the signing of the Florida legislation: pic.twitter.com/UVI7Ko3aKS – Walt Disney Company (@WaltDisneyCo) March 28, 2022 For Charlee Disney, the new Florida law is just another hurdle for the LGBTQ community, especially trans people, to overcome. Their journey was difficult, they told the Los Angeles Times. “I had very few openly gay models,” they said. “And I certainly did not have trans or binary patterns. I did not see myself being reflected in anyone and that made me feel that something was wrong with me.” Charlee Disney told the newspaper that young LGBTQ people face high rates of depression, anxiety, bullying and suicide. According to a 2021 national survey by defense team The Trevor Project, 42% of young LGBTQs thought seriously about attempting suicide last year, including more than half of trans and non-binary young people. More than half of trans and non-binary young people in high school or high school were bullied. “Then put something like this above this law? Can’t they learn about their community and their history at school, or play sports or use the bathroom they want to use?” said Charlee Disney. Accounts like the one in Florida make things worse, they said. The Trevor Project’s 2021 study found that when young LGBTQs found themselves in places that confirmed gender and sexual orientation, suicide rates were lower. They also found that young LGBTQ students who learned about LGBTQ issues or people at school were 23% less likely to report a suicide attempt. “The fight is not over,” Roy Disney told the Washington Times. “And we are determined to do what we can to prevent this from happening elsewhere.” More Li Cohen Lee Cohen is a social media producer and up-and-coming reporter for CBS News, which focuses on social justice issues.