ORLANDO, Fla. (NEWSnet/AP) — Diversity and inclusion programs were abolished Tuesday from Walt Disney World’s governing district, now controlled by appointees of Gov. Ron DeSantis.

Central Florida Tourism Oversight District said its diversity, equity and inclusion committee will be eliminated, along with job duties connected to it. Also axed: initiatives that remained from when the district was controlled by Disney supporters, which awarded contracts based on goals of achieving racial or gender parity.

The district’s administrator,

 

, who is African American and former head of Central Florida Urban League, called such initiatives “illegal and simply un-American.” Gilzean has been a fellow or member at two conservative institutions, James Madison Institute and American Enterprise Institute Leadership Network, as well as a DeSantis appointee to the Florida Commission on Ethics.

“Our district will no longer participate in any attempt to divide us by race or advance the notion that we are not created equal,” Gilzean said. “As the former head of the Central Florida Urban League, a civil rights organization, I can say definitively that our community thrives only when we work together despite our differences.”

In May, DeSantis signed into law a measure that blocks public colleges from using federal or state funding on diversity programs.

The creation of the district, then known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District, was instrumental in Disney’s decision to build a theme park resort near Orlando in the 1960s. Having a separate government allowed the company to provide zoning, fire protection, utilities and infrastructure services. The district was controlled by Disney supporters for more than five decades.

DeSantis appointees took control of the renamed district earlier this year following a dispute between the company and DeSantis regarding early-grade school lessons about sexual orientation and gender identity.

Copyright 2023 NEWSnet and The Associated Press. All rights reserved.