Oscar Isaac Reacts To Disney's Stance On 'Don't Say Gay' Bill
Moon Knight star Oscar Isaac reacts to Disney's stance on Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill, criticizing the policy as an "absolutely ridiculous law." The Golden Globe winner has worked with the House of Mouse for nearly a decade now, first beginning with his work as Poe Dameron in the Star Wars sequel trilogy and the Resistance animated series. Isaac is reuniting with Disney for the upcoming Moon Knight Marvel Cinematic Universe series in which he stars as Marc Spector, a mercenary living with dissociative identity disorder who becomes the human conduit for the Egyptian moon god Khonshu and must use his powers as the titular hero to defeat the cult leader Arthur Harrow.
The "Don't Say Gay" bill, more formally known as the Parental Rights in Education bill, has drawn a lot of controversy over the past two months, with critics calling it an infringement on free speech for its prohibition of discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in kindergarten to third grade classrooms. Disney has been at the center of much of the controversy regarding the legislation for their initial lack of a response and minimal efforts to correct this stance. As many within the studio are coming forward in an effort to convince the House of Mouse to better their efforts, another major name has joined the cause.
While speaking with Variety at the red carpet event for the MCU series, Moon Knight star Oscar Isaac shared his reaction to Disney's stance on Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill. The Golden Globe winner criticized the law for even being drawn up and expressed his hope for the studio to come out in a much larger fashion against it than they have thus far. See what Isaac shared below:
"I guess my comment would be: gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gay gayyyyyy! It's an absolutely ridiculous law. It's insane. It's insanity. And I hope that Disney as a company comes out as forcefully as possible against this idea. It's astounding that it even exists in this country."
Fellow Moon Knight star Ethan Hawke was similarly asked his thoughts on the controversy regarding Disney's stance on the "Don't Say Gay" bill, noting that while he wasn't "educated" about the situation he felt it was important for better LGBTQ+ visibility in media, stating that "the more we understand each other's experiences, the more humanity we find in them." Isaac and Hawke's comments come as Disney has been in the hot seat for their lack of action in regards to the legislation, with CEO Bob Chapek only just recently coming out and apologizing to employees in a company email and promising to no longer donate to politicians supporting the bill. Despite this, further stories regarding Disney's mishandling of the LGBTQ+ community and their stance on the "Don't Say Gay" bill continue to surface, with Pixar employees revealing multiple instances of being censored and former Blue Sky staffers saying they received pushback for a same-sex kiss in the scrapped Nimona adaptation.
Disney's stance on the controversial "Don't Say Gay" bill has also sparked a number of protests from the studio, with numerous employees staging walkouts in response. One such walkout included the cast of Raven's Home, with star and executive producer Raven-Symoné confirming as such on her Instagram with a video of her and her co-stars speaking out in support of her community. As more Disney stars, including Moon Knight's Oscar Isaac, speaking out against the studio's minimal efforts, only time will tell if they take a harder stance against the bill in the near future.
Source: Variety