Tens of thoands of LGBTQ+ people flock to Florida for Gay Days ftival | PBS NewsHour

Contents:

• TENS OF THOANDS OF LGBTQ+ PEOPLE FLOCK TO FLORIDA FOR GAY DAYS FTIVAL
• DISNEY TO HOST GAY RIGHTS SUMM ORLANDO
• GAY ORLANDO
• FLORIDA’S LGBTQ ADVOT ARE RALLYG TO SUPPORT YOUNG PEOPLE LIGHT OF ‘DON’T SAY GAY’
• ‘IT’S MY FLORIDA TOO’: PULSE SHOOTG SURVIVOR BRANDON WOLF ON BEG BLACK, GAY AND THE ANTI-RON DESANTIS

TENS OF THOANDS OF LGBTQ+ PEOPLE FLOCK TO FLORIDA FOR GAY DAYS FTIVAL

(AP) — 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.

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.

DISNEY TO HOST GAY RIGHTS SUMM ORLANDO

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.

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.

GAY ORLANDO

“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.

FLORIDA’S LGBTQ ADVOT ARE RALLYG TO SUPPORT YOUNG PEOPLE LIGHT OF ‘DON’T SAY GAY’

Some Christian groups tried to buy air time durg Gay Days the late 1990s to prsure people to renounce their sexual orientatn, but mastream TV statns Orlando rejected the ads. If Clark, the CEO of the Gay Days bs, had his wish, DeSantis would accept an open vatn to see one of the drag shows durg this year’s ftivi. Will host a major nference promotg lbian, gay, bisexual and transgenr rights the workplace Central Florida this September, gatherg executiv and profsnals om the world’s largt pani a fiant display of the lims of Florida Gov.

It was seen as punishment over the pany’s opposn to Florida’s Parental Rights Edutn legislatn, known wily as the state’s Don’t Say Gay bill, which prohibs any discsn of sexual orientatn or genr inty classrooms before fourth has had a longstandg relatnship wh Out & Equal, the anizatn behd the event, and is listed on s webse as one of s most genero Florida rort has mted to hostg the nference this year and next, which will ci wh the printial electn mpaign 2024. ”In his recently released book, DeSantis scrib how, after “Disney clared war on Florida fai” by opposg the Parental Rights Edutn bill, also known as the Don’t Say Gay bill, and “dulged woke activism, ” he asked the Legislature “to reevaluate — and even elimate — Disney’s special al. ”Last year’s Out & Equal nference Las Vegas clud multiple speakers who advoted for the rights of transgenr youth, and provid atten wh guidance on how to navigate anti-LGBTQ bills at the state of tensnTensn between DeSantis and Disney arose last sprg when Disney publicly opposed Florida’s Parental Rights Edutn Act, also known as the Don’t Say Gay bill.

The cy has a fed inty as a global hub of entertament, rort tourism and gay culture. Orlando is the number one travel statn the USA and is beg creasgly popular amongst gay travelers. The gay scene Orlando is lively, vibrant and energetic.

‘IT’S MY FLORIDA TOO’: PULSE SHOOTG SURVIVOR BRANDON WOLF ON BEG BLACK, GAY AND THE ANTI-RON DESANTIS

Shaped by the large South Amerin muny Orlando, many of the cy’s gay clubs and bars are heavily fluenced by Lat culture, mic and style.