A Disney executive who is pushing for more LGBTQ content in her productions said her son told her the brand “needs to deal with it” because Gen Z is more “queer” than other generations newly leaked footage from a company-wide meeting.
Karey Burke, president of Disney General Entertainment Content, suggested during Monday’s Zoom meeting that it made sense for the company to push for more inclusivity.
“My son texted me this morning, ‘Gen Z is 30-40 percent more queer than the other generations, mom, so Disney is handling it better,'” Burke told staffers during the meeting.
The clip, posted to Twitter by journalist Christopher Rufo as recently as Thursday, is one of several that emerged from the meeting held as part of Disney’s Reimagine Tomorrow campaign.
Burke said in the leaked clip that when she previously ran Disney’s cable channel Freeform, they “celebrated” the push for inclusion.
“When I was at Freeform, it was very much part of the Freeform brand ethos to be the tip of the spear when it comes to inclusion,” she said.
“Nobody stopped us and it felt great. In part, I think nobody stopped us because we were targeting Gen Z and Millennials.”
Burke added that the generations targeted are “younger” and “more open-minded.”
In a separate clip leaked Tuesday of the same meeting, Burke described herself as a “mum to two queer kids.”
“Actually, I’m here as a mother of two queer kids,” Burke said on the call. “A transgender child and a pansexual child, and also as a leader.”
Burke went on to say that she supports showing “many, many” LGBTQ characters and was dismayed to learn that the company only has a “handful” of queer lead characters in its content.
“And I said, ‘What? This can’t be true,'” Burke said in the earlier clip. “And I realized that it’s actually true.”
The push for inclusivity comes as the entertainment giant works to ensure underrepresented groups, including ethnic minorities and the LGBTQ community, make up at least 50 percent of its regular characters by the end of the year.
It also comes in the wake of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signing legislation banning teachers in the state from discussing LGBTQ issues — like sexual orientation or gender identity — with students unless they are in fourth grade or higher.
Disney has denounced the new law and vowed to fight to have it repealed.
https://nypost.com/2022/04/08/disney-exec-pushes-for-lgbtq-content-because-gen-z-is-queerer/ Disney exec pushes for LGBTQ content because Gen Z is more ‘queer’
