In June 2023, claims began to spread on social media platforms that Disney was opening pediatric transgender clinics in the U.S.
"I had to listen to this 3 times then had to share," a TikTok post said on July 6, 2023. "Disney update thanking bud light!!!!!" The video claimed Disney Entertainment's co-chairman Alan Bergman had said "Disney-themed pediatric transgender clinics" would be opened across the U.S. beginning in the summer of 2023.
We found posts about the claim on social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, in addition to TikTok.
While the video documents an actual city council meeting, and Bergman was indeed the co-chairman of Disney Entertainment at the time of publication, the speaker seen in the clip was not actually Bergman and the allegations about Disney were satirical. We reached out to Disney and will update this fact check if we hear back.
The man in the video was actually conservative YouTuber Mark Dice, who posted a video on the platform titled "Disney's Creepy New Plans for Kids" on June 28, 2023. The video's description said:
At a California city council meeting posing as Disney executive Alan Bergman, YouTuber Mark Dice gives a satirical speech about what the company is planning next. While it's "just" satire, is it really that far from the actual truth?
We found the speech included in a YouTube video showing the Oceanside City Council Meeting on June 21, 2023. Oceanside is a city located in southern California. Dice was the last person to speak during the time the council allotted for public items not on the meeting's agenda:
The full video was also shared on Rumble, titled "Mark Dice - Disney Executive Reveals Next Phase of Wokeness for Company."
No reputable publications have reported that Disney is opening pediatric transgender clinics. If the company were to do so, or announce doing so, there would be news media coverage everywhere.
We've checked other satirical claims concerning the company, like whether Magic Kingdom would stop admitting adults without children in August 2023.
For background, here is why we sometimes write about satire/humor.