ESPN Women’s Basketball Broadcasters Take Moment of Silence in Solidarity With LGBTQ+ Disney Employees (Video)
Two of ESPN’s broadcasters, during their coverage of the NCAA Women’s Basketball tournament Friday, took a moment of silence in solidarity with their fellow LGBTQIA+ Disney employees in protesting Florida’s controversial “Don’t Say Gay” legislation.
Carolyn Peck and Courtney Lyle took a brief pause from their broadcast after they said live on air that a few minutes prior they had been asked to show their solidarity and support for Disney’s LBGTQIA+ employees.
“Normally at this time we would take a look back at the first half, but there are things that are bigger than basketball that need to be addressed,” Lyle said. “Our friends, our family, our coworkers, the players and coaches in our community are hurting right now.”
“The threat to any rights is a threat to all human rights, and at this time, Courtney and I are going to take a pause to show our love and support for our friends, our families and our colleagues,” Peck added.
Lyle and Peck remained silent for approximately two minutes during Friday’s game between No. 1 seed South Carolina and No. 16 seed Richmond, even as play continued.
Another ESPN broadcaster Elle Duncan made a similar statement of allyship with LGBTQIA+ workers during the same broadcast. She acknowledged that a group of Disney employees had staged a brief walkout during their work breaks, demonstrations that began on Tuesday and have continued in batches throughout the week.
Disney and Chapek have been mired in controversy surrounding Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill for several weeks. The legislation, officially called the Parental Rights in Education bill, is designed to prohibit Florida schools from teaching students between kindergarten and third grade about topics of sexual orientation or gender identity.
The bill passed in the Florida Senate on March 8, and Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has previously indicated that he intends to sign it into law. The controversy cropped up over Disney’s initial silence to the bill and reports that the company had given donations to politicians who were sponsors or co-sponsors of the legislation.
But things got worse when a leaked internal memo said Chapek had defended the company’s lack of a public statement. Chapek then agreed to meet with DeSantis and said Disney reps had lobbied against the bill behind the scenes. But when DeSantis did not change his mind, and even mocked Disney as a “woke” corporation, Chapek finally agreed to pause all political donations and apologized again to LGBTQ staff.