Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., told Newsmax on Saturday he was proud of Florida's GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis for standing up to Disney's adoption of the woke left agenda and Disney's protest of the state's new Parental Rights in Education Law.
The law prohibits schools from teaching sex and gender related topics to young children without a parent's consent.
"[DeSantis is] doing the right thing; I'm proud of him," Van Drew told "Saturday Report." "I know Ron, and I think he's really standing up for his state. It's something that was needed to be done.
"Let's just be very simple about this: Parents have rights. Children obviously work these issues out with their parents and, what we're doing now and certain states are trying to take away the right of parents to guide their children.
"That's very, very wrong."
The new law, signed by DeSantis on March 28, prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in kindergarten through third grade, prohibits instruction considered inappropriate for a student's age, and requires districts to set up procedures to notify parents of changes to a student's mental, emotional, or physical health.
"Parents' rights have been increasingly under assault around the nation, but in Florida we stand up for the rights of parents and the fundamental role they play in the education of their children," DeSantis said when he signed the bill. "Parents have every right to be informed about services offered to their child at school and should be protected from schools using classroom instruction to sexualize their kids as young as 5 years old."
Disney, which employs an estimated 80,000 in its Florida operations, criticized the state and DeSantis for the legislation.
The Florida Legislature and DeSantis fired back this week by repealing a 50-year-old law that allowed the entertainment company to govern itself and control building guidelines for its theme parks.
"Disney is about fun; Disney was about fun," Van drew said. "It's about superheroes for kids, and Mickey Mouse and fairy tale stories, and just a wonderful time, and lots of rides, and enjoying yourself. Why they would ever enter this and get into all of this — I think strange and unfortunate issues — I just have no idea at all."
Van Drew is sponsoring federal legislation to assist parents with restricting schools from teaching these issues to very young children after his own state appears to be following that agenda in its districts.
Republican state lawmakers there released samples of approved curriculum materials they say highlight "inappropriate" for young students.
"It seems the [Democrat Gov. Phil Murphy's administration has] time to say, We really should talk to these very, very, young children about the fact that they may have certain sexual organs, but they actually could be a different sex, especially if they think they are," Van Drew lamented. "[This] literally will mean legally that boys could use girls' bathrooms, locker rooms, etc.
"It's not what little kids are about. These are little babies, and they should be able to have a wonderful, somewhat innocent, good life."
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