A Disney movie with a gay character was shown in a fifth-grade classroom, and now the teacher is under investigation.
“Strange World,” a Disney movie which came out last year, has a main character who is gay, a teenager with a crush on his best friend. It is entirely appropriate for children, with less romantic interaction on screen than “Lion King,” or “Beauty and the Beast.”
Jenna Barbee, a fifth-grade teacher in Winding Waters K-8 School in Hernando County, Florida, aired the movie to fill classroom time after a partial day of standardized testing. She had followed school policy, getting signed permission slips from every parent to approve that she could show PG-rated movies in the classroom. She says she chose the movie due to its message about choosing environmental best practices over community convenience and profit.
According to Barbee, a parent complained about “Strange World” due to its LGBT content, reporting her to the Florida state Department of Education, and now she’s under investigation for ‘indoctrination.’
Her claim is backed up by a statement from the Hernando County Schools sent out to parents of Barbee’s students.
“Yesterday, the Disney movie ‘Strange World’ was shown in your child’s classroom,” the school district said. “While not the main plot of the movie, parts of the story involves a male character having and expressing feelings for another male character. In the future, this movie will not be shown. The school administration and the district’s Professional Standards Dept is currently reviewing the matter to see if further corrective action is required.”
Under Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” laws, Barbee could have her teaching license revoked if the investigation decides her showing a children’s movie is age-inappropriate for fifth-graders or ‘instruction’ on sexual orientation.
“A school board member, an elected official of power, who was supposed to be nonpartisan, is allowed to present to the public that she is Christian and that God appointed her to the board. And yet it is indoctrinated that I showed a Disney movie,” said Barbee before the school board members in a public meeting after the incident.
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