Disney heir comes out publicly as transgender, condemns anti-LGBTQ bills

Some of what’s happening now is new. Last weekend, Fox News host Laura Ingraham warned companies to “stay in your lane” or risk the wrath of a future Republican administration that might reexamine the protections and favors upon which corporate America has come to rely. “When Republicans … get back into power, Apple and Disney need to understand one thing: Everything will be on the table,” she said. “Your copyright, trademark protection. Your special status within certain states. And even your corporate structure itself.”....

But what Ingraham suggested is selective enforcement of such reviews or protections that amount to punishment for speaking up against right-wing positions, rather than a desire to challenge the imbalances that endow corporations with these advantages to begin with.

This time, the far-right-wing political machine appears to have gotten out over its skis. Politicians should be asking whether, come next election cycle, Disney or any other corporation will back them given these threats of arbitrary punishment under a potential Republican administration. Has allowing zealots (and opportunists) to take charge of the right-wing agenda effectively bitten the corporate hand that has fed the right for so long?.....

The political backlash against Disney is a monster of corporate America’s own creation. Once content to stay quiet and feign neutrality while real people were actively harmed by right-wing policy machinations, the mob has now come for businesses. We need corporations to step up on principle, regardless of what the resulting backlash might look like.

The only option for corporate leaders is to stand tall for authenticity, generosity, joy and decency. These things are kryptonite for the right-wing agenda. Fortunately, they are also the heart and soul of the Disney brand.