Disney expands into anti-gay countries despite stance against Florida bill

Despite the Walt Disney Company’s adamant push against Florida’s recently passed "Parental Rights in Education" bill, the entertainment company will be expanding into a number of countries with hard anti-gay stances.

The company announced on Tuesday that its streaming service, Disney+, would be expanding into 42 new areas in Europe, Asia, and West Africa beginning in May, according to Fox News.

Nearly a dozen of these locations where the streaming service will launch though have strict anti-gay laws.

Disney+ will be making its way into the North African and Middle Eastern countries of Algeria, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, and Yemen, all of which outlaw homosexuality, and many of these countries punish same-sex activity through imprisonments, fines, and hard labor.

Others within this list of countries, like Saudi Arabia and Yemen, punish homosexuals and transgender individuals with chemical castration and death.

Disney’s announcement of their expansion came just one day after the entertainment giant blasted Florida Governor Ron DeSantis for passing what has been dubbed the "Don’t Say Gay" bill by its opponents.

The company said HB 1557 "should never have passed," and said that they would fight to have the law overturned. They have not made any such noise about the laws in the nations that actively execute and torture same-sex attracted and transgender people.

Disney+ isn’t the only branch of the Walt Disney Company expanding into areas with anti-gay laws and policies.

Disney Cruise Lines, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company, offers Southern Caribbean cruises that bring travelers to Antigua, Dominica, and St. Maarten, according to Fox News.

These three Island nations ban gay marriage. Antigua punishes those who participate in same-sex sexual activity with up to 15 years in prison, with Dominica giving prison sentences up to 10 years.

The two nations both do not have laws in place prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Disney has also been a vocal supporter of minority rights groups, all he while they remain silent on the Uyghur genocide in China, where the company has a "very active" presence, and saying nothing about the laws of these nations.