It's not the freshest comeback ever, but Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis‘ hand-picked board of appointees is countering Disney‘s lawsuit filed last Wednesday with… their own lawsuit. After The Walt Disney Co. filed a federal lawsuit against Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and other Republican officials last week for a violation of the company's First Amendment rights in DeSantis' “relentless campaign to weaponize government power,” now DeSantis' five-member board of the Central Florida Oversight District has voted unanimously to file its own lawsuit in state court.
The standoff began when Disney took a stand in opposing the governor's controversial education bill limiting classroom discussion of sexual orientation and gender identity, which has become known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. DeSantis then took the company's statement of support for equality and LGBTQ+ rights as a personal affront and decided to target Disney's longstanding special tax district status in the state by taking away their self-governing powers and appointing his own five-member hand selected board of like-minded allies.
Disney then attempted to bypass the new board by forming its own development deal, which in effect restored the power of its original self-governing board, but the district’s DeSantis-appointed board of supervisors quickly moved to undo that development deal.
That in turn prompted Disney's lawsuit last week on the grounds that DeSantis, his board, and other Republican officials in the state are waging a government action that is “patently retaliatory, patently anti-business, and patently unconstitutional.”
Chairman of DeSantis' board, Martin Garcia, had this to say about their counter suit: “This district will seek justice in state court here in central Florida where both it and Disney reside. Yes, we will seek justice in our own backyard.”
How this chess match will end, no one quite knows. Disney is the largest taxpayer in Florida, but Ron DeSantis has shown a willingness at times to be driven more by political stunts and personal vendettas than what's best for his state.
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