The Walt Disney Company has seen its fair share of the spotlight recently, first making headlines for not initially responding to Florida’s HB 1557, the Parental Rights in Education Bill — also known as the “Don’t Say Gay” Bill by critics.

Magic Kingdom

After facing backlash, Disney did issue a statement in support of the LGBTQIA+ community and promised to “build on their public commitment” to show that support. Later, the Walt Disney Company and CEO Bob Chapek pledged a donation to the Human Rights Campaign, which was ultimately not accepted by the organization. But now, Disney has made another public show of support of the LGBTQIA+ community, by standing up for the Respect for Marriage Act.

The Human Rights Campaign has been at the helm of an open letter urging the United States Senate to pass the Respect for Marriage Act, known formally as H.R. 8404 and S. 4556 in the House and Senate, respectively. According to the Hollywood Reporter, the letter “features 173 signatories, representing more than 5.3 million employees” — and the Walt Disney Company is among them.

©Disney | Walt Disney Company Headquarters

The Respect for Marriage Act would federally codify marriage equality “by guaranteeing the federal rights, benefits, and obligations of marriages in the federal code; repeal the discriminatory Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA); and affirm that public acts, records and proceedings are recognized by all states,” per the Human Rights Campaign.

Main Street, U.S.A.

The Defense of Marriage Act was passed in 1996, and “barred the federal government from acknowledging same gender couples married under state law in more than 1,000 contexts and didn’t require states to legally respect same-sex marriages performed in other states, under the Full Faith and Credit Clause of the Constitution.”

The Bill passed the House with 267 votes — including 47 votes from Republicans — and this open letter has been penned to urge the Senate to pass the Respect for Marriage Act as well.

Mickey and Minnie meet-and-greet in Animal Kingdom!

A portion of the Human Rights Campaign letter signed by the Walt Disney Company reads, “Americans from all walks of life, across demographics, geographies, and party lines agree that loving, committed couples have the right to be respected and protected under the law.” It goes on to say, “As many of us highlighted in our support for Marriage Equality in 2015, a patchwork of inconsistent and discriminatory state marriage laws goes against our company values and makes it harder for us to do business and to recruit and retain top talent.”

EPCOT

Disney isn’t the only major company to sign the letter, as Sony, Comcast NBCUniversal, and Apple have all publicly aligned with the Respect for Marriage Act. Of course, Disney’s signing of the letter is a significant change from the company’s initial lack of public support for LGBTQIA+ rights back in March — as this marks one of the first known public stances the company has taken in support of the community.

We’ll continue to keep an eye on this story, so be sure to stay tuned to DFB for the latest.