Editorial, Opinion

EDITORIAL: Disney’s opposition to Georgia’s anti-LGBT bill welcome, financially motivated

A bill passed by the Georgia legislature now awaiting the governor’s signature would allow religious leaders and organizations to refuse performing and attending same-sex marriage ceremonies, The Washington Post reported. Religious organizations would also be allowed to fire employees whose religious beliefs differ from the organizations’.

Recently, large companies have come out against this bill. Disney and Marvel threatened on Wednesday to move their productions elsewhere if this bill were to be signed into law.

Companies such as Time Warner, 21st Century Fox, Sony Pictures, Comcast, Viacom, Apple, Dell and Marriott, among others, have also come out opposing this bill, according to CNN. In fact, Georgia United Against Discrimination found that more than 400 companies have come out in opposition to Georgia’s religious freedom bill.

In the statement issued by Disney on Wednesday, the company said it “will plan to take [its] business elsewhere,” if the bill were signed into law, according to The Washington Post.

Georgia joins the ranks of 15 other states that have tried to pass bills restricting the rights of LGBT people in 2015, according to CNN. But it hasn’t been until fairly recently that companies have come out opposing LGBT legislation.

It may be rather cynical to think of everything as monetarily motivated, but Disney has business at stake here. Disney shoots many of its movies in Georgia.

In fact, Georgia is the third-most popular state for shooting movies, falling behind only California and New York, according to a 2014 report by FilmL.A. Inc. And according to Georgia’s Department of Economic Development, the film industry generated $6 billion for the state in the 2015 Fiscal Year.

Disney, as a company, has a social responsibility to speak out against injustice in the places in which it operates. This law could intimidate or affect a large number of Georgia-based Disney employees working on a movie.

Disney didn’t have to say anything. The public wouldn’t have known just how much the company is connected to Georgia film-wise if the company hadn’t spoken up. The public wouldn’t have shamed Disney for not speaking up if the company didn’t. Disney took the initiative. And for that, the company should be applauded.

Though its films and casting don’t necessarily show it, Hollywood could be a prominent force in pushing LGBT equality forward. The companies that make up the industry know they hold economic clout. It’s just nice for them to use their power to leverage social change.

But Disney, and every other Hollywood production company, is a business, and if there’s one thing businesses strive to do, it’s to make as much money as possible. By opposing Georgia’s religious freedom bill, Disney gains the favor of everyone who also opposes it. The company is so large that it could take a hit from those who oppose its actions. But what’s terrifying is that Disney could do the same if it voted the other way.

The company has immense power. It, or any other company, could have just as easily supported this bill instead of opposing it.

When celebrities such as Anne Hathaway and Boston University’s own Julianne Moore oppose the Georgia bill, it strikes a more resonant chord than a big, scary company doing so. That’s because it’s real people voicing their — hopefully genuine — feelings, and not a conglomeration of selfish business decisions. It’s not like people are suddenly going to start watching “The Vampire Diaries” because it’s shot in a state that doesn’t discriminate against gay people, but support in any form, from anywhere is always welcome.

Companies don’t have a responsibility to take a stance on social issues if they have little at stake anywhere. Georgia is economically tied to these companies. Destroying the state’s economy is a realistic threat, and Disney choosing to take its business to another state is the equivalent of economic blackmail. But hey, companies can boycott too.

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