DeSantis Disney Appointee Said Tap Water Might Be Turning People Gay
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis appointed a guy who thinks tap water will turn you gay to Disney’s new governance board — and no, it’s not Alex Jones. According to CNN’s KFile, Ron Peri, a former pastor from Orlando, once said that the number of LGBTQ individuals was increasing because of high estrogen levels in tap water.
“Why are there homosexuals today?” Peri speculated in a 2022 Zoom call with members of his ministry group The Gathering. “Some would say the increase in estrogen in our societies. You know, there’s estrogen in the water from birth control pills. They can’t get it out.” Peri suggested that estrogen consumed via drinking water was contributing to a decline in testosterone levels among men.
While low levels of estrogen and estrogen-related compounds have been identified in some tap water, there’s no scientific research linking the hormone’s presence to adverse health effects or changes in a person’s sexual preferences. Birth control pills were also found to account for less than one percent of the estrogen found in drinking water. The theory was partially popularized by conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, whose rant about the government “putting chemicals in the water that turn the friggin’ frogs [and people] gay” went viral online.
But baseless conspiracies about gay-inducing tap water are just the beginning of Peri’s anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. The former pastor called LGBTQ people “deviant” and accused them of not having a “stake in the future.” Peri also accused LGBTQ people of being an “evil” that had been allowed to flourish because society had removed constraints against them.
Peri’s appointment to Disney’s new state-controlled governance board comes after the state voted to strip the company of special tax dispensations granted to the Reedy Creek Improvement District (the land and surrounding area Disney World sits on) after the company spoke out against anti-LGBTQ laws proposed by the Florida government.
Following the approval of the bill, which allows the governor to appoint a five-person board to oversee municipal services in the district, DeSantis boasted that the new structure would allow the Florida government to pressure Disney into ceasing “trying to inject woke ideology” into the minds of children. “I think all of these board members very much would like to see the type of entertainment that all families can appreciate,” DeSantis said.
According to CNN, other members appointed to the board by DeSantis include Martin Garcia, a lawyer who contributed $50,000 to his re-election campaign, as well as the wife of the chairman of the Republican Party of Florida.
By appointing loyalists and an anti-LGBTQ religious zealot, DeSantis is signaling that the focus of Reedy Creek’s wont be maintaining the local services previously provided by Disney, but punishing the company for daring to portray diversity in its content.
