Having collaborated with Disneyland a few years ago, FSB Core Strategies representative Jeff Flint contacted OC Weekly and offered it a quote about the matter of his Proposition 8 history.
Flint told OC Weekly that he had privately and publicly disavowed his work related to the Proposition 8 campaign. He added that his desire to stop working on the campaign was related to it and its stand against marriage equality. Those were the primary reasons he ended his partnership with FSB Core Strategies’ Frank Schubert. Flint regarded FSB Core Strategies as a firm that was welcoming and open to the LGBTQ community in every aspect of operations and work.
At the same time, Disneyland was becoming gay-friendly. It was known for being an employer with a friendly attitude to homosexual people. Disneyland regarded itself as a safe place for homosexual couples to spend time in the park, particularly during Disney fan-organized Gay Days.
In June 2019, Disneyland was getting closer to accepting Pride as an element of the Disney magic. In Pride month, it gave GLSEN 10% of its proceeds from the Rainbow Disney Collection. For the uninitiated, GLSEN is a not-for-profit company opposing bullying of LGBT people in schools. Disneyland’s theme park location in Paris went one step further by holding a formal Magical Pride Parade in June 2019, which raised the idea that the Orlando and Anaheim locations would follow suit. This would suffice to ignite many anti-LGBT petitions on the internet decrying the amusement parks of Disney as non-family-friendly locations.
However, Disney was facing flak from all directions. GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) dinged the company in a recent annual report as it lacked openly-LGBT parts in 2018 movies. Then there was local politics in Anaheim, where the past record of Disney was an interesting case. Disney bankrolled the first openly-homosexual councilor of Anaheim, namely Jordan Brandman. However, The Walt Disney Company was listed as an FSB Core Strategies client. Jeff Flint was heading FSB Core Strategies, and he played a part in making Anaheim come back to a council majority that was Disney-friendly.
In 2008, he acted as a Yes on Proposition 8 campaign manager along with Frank Schubert. Back then, he told the LA Times that he thought the Proposition 8 forces turned into a form of mob justice. Schubert and Flint’s attempts to ban gay marriage through a ballot initiative turned out to be successful. However, they went away from their PR company amid rumors that Schubert’s reputation as an anti-gay person scared away its clientele. As Flint tried to change his company’s corporate image to getting associated with FSB Core Strategies, he had not openly disavowed his role in the proposition.
However, the PR company then tried to be less involved with its history in bringing an impressive list of corporate clients together, including Disney. At the same time, Disney filed a legal brief that challenged the constitutionality of the proposition along with the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
So, Disneyland was not yet the most gay-friendly location in the world.
