Disney Workers Walk Out to Protest Company’s Response to Florida Bill

Small groups of Walt Disney Co. DIS 1.07% employees across the U.S. took Tuesday off from work and gathered to protest what they described as the company’s continued failure to support LGBT employees.

The walkouts mark the beginning of a third week of turmoil inside the entertainment giant as its leadership struggles to contain fallout from its bungled response to a Republican-led education bill in Florida, which many employees said targeted the LGBT community.

The Parental Rights in Education bill, passed March 8 by the Florida Senate, prohibits classroom instruction on gender identity or sexual orientation for children in the third grade or younger and limits such instruction for older students.

The issue has emerged as a major challenge for Disney Chief Executive Bob Chapek as he enters the third and final year of his contract. Employees, fans, shareholders and elected officials of both parties have slammed Disney—first for failing to take a public stance on the bill, then for opposing it only after it had passed and while the company was under heavy public pressure to do so.