Exec Who Led Disney’s Push Against DeSantis’ Parental Rights Bill Now Lobbying For Country That Executes Gays
Laurel Duggan on June 22, 2023
Geoff Morrell, who was Disney’s chief corporate affairs officer during the company’s 2022 fight against Florida’s LGBT-related legislation, registered as a foreign agent for the Public Investment Fund, the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, according to legal documents.
Morrell earned more than $10 million in three months while running Disney’s public relations and government affairs in 2022, according to Fortune, as the company feuded with Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis over the state’s Parental Rights in Education bill, which bars classroom instruction on gender identity and sexuality prior to the fourth grade. Morrell will now work on public relations and support government affairs engagement for Saudi Arabia, a country in which same-sex sexual relationships are punishable by execution, according to his foreign agent registration form.
Morrell signed paperwork registering as a foreign agent under the Foreign Agent Registration Act of 1938 on Tuesday, and will work on behalf of the Saudi fund’s newly announced partnership with the PGA Tour.
“The short form registrant will provide the foreign principal with communications and stakeholder engagement consulting services with respect to the foreign principal’s golf-related commercial businesses and investments including its partnership with the PGA Tour,” the form read. “The short form registrant and colleagues will support the development of a strategy and engagement plan, support the development of key messaging and other content, advise on media and social media strategy and engagement, provide media training, and support government affairs engagement in specific market.”
While Morrell was leading Disney’s public relations efforts, the company expressed its opposition to the Parental Rights in Education bill, which it characterized as anti-LGBT.
“Florida’s HB 1557, also known as the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill, should never have passed and should never have been signed into law. Our goal as a company is for this law to be repealed by the legislature or struck down in the courts, and we remain committed to supporting the national and state organizations working to achieve that,” the company said in a public statement shared on Twitter. “We are dedicated to standing up for the rights and safety of LGBTQ+ members of the Disney family, as well as the LGBTQ+ community in Florida and across the country.”
Married men in Saudi Arabia who engage in same-sex relations with other men are subject to the death penalty, and non-married men are flogged for same-sex relations, according to Human Dignity Trust. Same-sex marriage is not permitted, and the country’s dress codes forbid men from dressing as women.
Morrell did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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