LGBTQ+ people flock to Florida for Gay Days ftival

Contents:

• GAYDAYS HOSTS THE RETURN OF BEACH BALL AT AQUATI ORLANDO
• LGBTQ+ PEOPLE FLOCK TO FLORIDA FOR GAY DAYS FTIVAL
• LGBTQ+ PEOPLE FLOCK TO FLORIDA FOR GAY DAYS FTIVAL
• GAYDAYS 2023
• WHAT DAYS ARE GAY DAYS AT DISNEY WORLD? EVERYTHG TO KNOW ABOUT THE RED SHIRT TRADN.

GAYDAYS HOSTS THE RETURN OF BEACH BALL AT AQUATI ORLANDO

ORLANDO | GayDayS hosted the return of the weekend’s origal waterpark party, Beach Ball, this time at Aquati Orlando June 3. Tags: Aquati, Beach Ball, GayDays, Joe Pache, SeaWorld, Tony Moran. Joseph Clark will never fet his first Gay Days."Jt gettg off the (monorail) and seeg the sea of red shirts, to this day  giv me goosebumps," he relled of the annual Pri event at Walt Disney World and other Orlando-area venu, which is neher sponsored by nor exclive to Disney.Back 2008, Clark was a regular attene who ma his own red shirt wh iends.

"There was no 'Oh my God, they're gay.' Like yep, most of were, or we had iends and alli wh that weren't, who were jt welg to the muny. It was life-changg for me."Here's what to know about the annual LGBTQ+ gatherg Florida.'We have to be on guard a lot':Why safety first for so many LGBTQ travelers'I jt want to see more of ':The importance of seeg people like you while travelgHow did Gay Days get started?Gay Days Orlando started three s ago wh a group of iends who cid to meet up at Disney World red shirts. It has sce ballooned to an annual, multiday event, which draws upwards of 180,000 people to the Orlando area om across the world.Stand Fai:LGBTQ people need of stand- parents at weddgs, holidays fd 'fay' Facebook groupWhen are Gay Days 2023?Gay Days Orlando ns om May 31 through June 4 this year.

What day is red shirt day?Arguably the most proment part of Gay Days, red shirt daysare when participants wear red shirts to specific parks to celebrate their inty or support others. For stance, June 1 is a red shirt day at Disney's Animal Kgdom and SeaWorld Orlando and June 2 is a red shirt day at Disney's Hollywood Studs and Universal Islands of Adventure.Who attends Gay Days?Gay Days are open to everyone unr the LGBTQ+ umbrella as well as alli.

LGBTQ+ PEOPLE FLOCK TO FLORIDA FOR GAY DAYS FTIVAL

I joke around that what I do for a livg is throwg a big party for everybody."How much do Gay Days st? GayDays Drag Bgo sts $15 advance and $25 at the door.

LGBTQ+ PEOPLE FLOCK TO FLORIDA FOR GAY DAYS FTIVAL

The Taste of GayDays food and we event starts sts $40 advance and $50 at the door. Addnal events and tails n be found on Gay Days Orlando's lendar.What is there to do at Gay Days?Many Gay Days atten vis theme parks, but there are a host of other activi cludg popular pool parti, Drag Bgo, expos and more at the event's host hotel Orlando.

"There's plenty to do for everybody."Are Gay Days fay-iendly?Some events are adults-only, but most are open to all ag, cludg the Miss GayDays pageant, which this year will be hosted by CoCo Montre, who peted on "RuPl's Drag Race," and Miss GayDays 2019 Twila Holiday.Clark actually par the event to a fay rnn, specifilly "the fay that gets along rnn." Are there any ncerns about havg Gay Days  Florida this year?Given the polil climate the state and last year's enactment of what crics ll Florida'sDon't Say Gay law rtrictg discsns of sexual orientatn and genr inty primary schools, Clark said some people have asked him if this year's event would still happen."My msage back to them is 'Y, of urse we're still gog on.' One thg we n't do is go back the closet and hi om everythg," he said.

— Tens of thoands of LGBTQ+ people are flockg to central Florida this weekend to go on theme park ris, mgle wh stumed performers, dance at all-night parti and lounge poolsi at hotels durg Gay Days, a s-long tradn. Ron DeSantis and Florida lawmakers have champned a slew of anti-LGBTQ+ laws — spurrg the most proment gay rights group the U.

GAYDAYS 2023

And other civil rights anizatns to issue warngs the Sunshe State may no longer be safe — Gay Days anizers are still enuragg visors om around the world to e to one of Florida’s largt gay and lbian celebratns. If the hoped-for 150, 000 or more visors e to the half-week of pool parti, drag bgo and thrill ris at Orlando’s theme parks and hotels, then “that’s the pot, ” said Joseph Clark, CEO of Gay Days Inc.

Gay Days is a bon celebratn. It’s not lost on the anizers that the highlight of the weekend will be a Saturday meetup of LGBTQ+ visors at the Magic Kgdom at Walt Disney World, where the first Gay Days started as a sgle-day celebratn 1991. Currently, Disney is embroiled a legal fight wh DeSantis over the ernor and Republin lawmakers’ takeover of Disney World’s erng district — after Disney officials publicly opposed legislatn that crics have dubbed “Don’t Say Gay.

Some participants the Pri Cup athletic petns at Gay Days cid not to e, forcg the ncellatn of dodgeball and flag football tournaments. But the multi-sport petn that is held annually at Gay Days will still have beach volleyball, golf, pickleball and kickball.

WHAT DAYS ARE GAY DAYS AT DISNEY WORLD? EVERYTHG TO KNOW ABOUT THE RED SHIRT TRADN.

But the anizers of Gay Days and their supporters say that Orlando is as gay-iendly a cy as they e, earng a perfect sre on the Human Rights Campaign x, which measur how clive ci are of LGBTQ+ rints and visors. “We live a bubble here Orlando, where even wh the chaos Florida, we feel safe here, ” said Jeremy Williams, edor--chief of Watermark Publishg Group Inc., a Florida-based media pany that is one of the sponsors of Gay Days.

Gay Days has survived past challeng, cludg the early years when Disney posted signs at the Magic Kgdom’s entrance warng visors there was a large gatherg of gays and lbians and offerg pass to other parks for guts who might be offend. Over the last three s, though, the theme parks and rorts have thrown down the wele mats as Gay Days has bee a profable bounce between the sprg break and out-of-school summer crowds. Durg Gay Days the 1990s, hundreds of anti-abortn activists wh Operatn Rcue protted outsi Walt Disney World, and the Southern Baptist Conventn ced the gatherg llg for a boytt of all thgs Disney.