CRINGE: You won’t believe what this Republican Disney board member said

CRINGE: You won't believe what this Republican Disney board member said

By now it’s no secret that the right has some pretty bizarre beliefs when it comes to the LGBTQ community, but there’s always room to dig deeper down insanity’s hole, but this one’s a Disney–er, doozy.

Ron Peri, one of Governor Ron DeSantis’ new appointees to the restructured board of Disney’s Reedy Creek Improvement District, a former pastor and Chief Executive of the male-centric Christian ministry, The Gathering, apparently believes that tap water makes you gay.

Come again?

“So why are there homosexuals today?”, the religious conservative asked in a Zoom interaction in January of last year.

“You know, there’s estrogen in the water from birth control pills,” he added. “They can’t get that out.

Appointed on Monday, the Orlando-based Peri has a history of making incendiary anti-LGBTQ statements, which puts him directly in line with today’s Republican party – particularly in Florida.

Having called homosexuality “evil,” just a week ago, according to Peri, “There are a lot of unhealthy effects of a homosexual lifestyle,” citing “diseases,” and referring to being gay as “shameful.”

When former Disney CEO Bob Chapek urged Gov. DeSantis to reconsider the controversial and discriminatory Parental Rights in Education Act – commonly referred to as “Don’t Say Gay” – the thin-skinned governor retaliated by announcing he was stripping the family-friendly entertainment company of its authority over the Reedy Creek Improvement District established in 1967.

In addition to Peri, far right-wing-anti-diversity Moms of Liberty co-founder Bridget Ziegler was also appointed by DeSantis to the five-person board, and a sign of what’s to come.

And it’s not good.

Mr. Peri has teetered on conspiracy theories’ edge, spreading false narratives about the gay community, including alleging that homosexuality is responsible for the demise of the Roman Empire.

There has been no evidence linking estrogen in the water supply to sexual orientation, but that hasn’t stopped those on the right from spreading the propaganda.

According to the a study by the National Institute of Health, while there are traceable amounts of estrogen in the water, the amounts are far less than what they’re exposed to drinking milk.

Conservatives have taken up the misinformation and disinformation mantle in an effort to remake the country in Republican Jesus’ image, and it should concern us all.

The resurgence of misleading and false anti-LGBTQ tropes have given those like Gov. DeSantis and Peri license to launch an all out attack on those they don’t agree with.

Original reporting by By , and

Follow Ty Ross on Twitter @cooltxchick

Ty Ross

News journalist for Washington Press and Occupy Democrats.