Gay Days returns to Disney World amid ‘don’t say gay’ ntroversy

Contents:

• DISNEY GAY DAYS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD
• GAY DAYS AT DISNEY – CELEBRATE PRI & LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH
• HOW DISNEY GAYDAYS QUIETLY BEME A MASSIVE PRI EVENT
• 'GAY DAYS AT DISNEY' WARNG WAS BRILLIANT, SAYS FAY GROUP
• WHAT DAYS ARE GAY DAYS AT DISNEY WORLD? EVERYTHG TO KNOW ABOUT THE RED SHIRT TRADN.
• LGBTQ PEOPLE FLOCK TO FLORIDA FOR DISNEY'S GAY DAYS CELEBRATN
• HOW GAY DAYS MA A HOME AT DISNEY WORLD
• GAY DAYS RETURNS TO DISNEY WORLD AMID ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ NTROVERSY
• GAY DAYS AT DISNEY – CELEBRATE PRI & LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH – PARK SAVERS
• AFTER A POLIL STORM, GAY DAYS RETURN TO DISNEY

DISNEY GAY DAYS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

From the eedom to jt be yourself at the place Where Dreams Come Te to Disney characters like Ursula and Gaston who have bee gay ins, magic happens when Disney and the LGBT+ muny une. From the st members that make magic for guts every day to the Imageers that work behd the scen to dream up beloved experienc, you’d be hard-prsed to turn the rner a Disney theme park whout g face-to-face wh somethg or someone that hasn’t been touched by or isn’t a part of the gay muny. Although, Disneyland Paris did host the first-ever Disney-sponsored gay pri event, the Magil Pri Party, 2019 and, for 2023, Disneyland Rort is offerg s very first Disneyland After Dark: Pri Ne.

Each year (except for 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19), lbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and other queer people – along wh their fay, iends, and LGBTQ+ alli – make the annual pilgrimage to Central Florida to celebrate Pri Month wh Gay Days at Disney World and other area theme parks, cludg Universal Orlando, SeaWorld and Disvery Cove. What started as a sgle-day event June 1991 wh around 3, 000 members of the lol LGBT muny at Disney’s Magic Kgdom, Gay Days has sce expand to a massive near-weeklong, cywi extravaganza wh over 180, 000 atten om around the world.

Origally anized by the Gay, Lbian, and Bisexual Communy Center of Orlando (GLBCC), today the celebratn is a team effort wh parti, special events, and the GayDays Expo thrown by a number of different queer anizatns at GayDays Host Hotels and other lotns throughout Orlando.

GAY DAYS AT DISNEY – CELEBRATE PRI & LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH

While the unofficial uniform of Gay Days was origally jt a practil suggtn, makg easier to fd each other among the crowds, the sea of red is now a way of sayg to the world, “We’re here, we’re queer, get ed to . Lunchtime get-togethers and ri meetups for gay fai and different LGBTQ muni, like lunch at Hungry Bear Rtrant or a plunge down Grizzly River Run for the bears, let atten spend some qualy time wh their tribe.

HOW DISNEY GAYDAYS QUIETLY BEME A MASSIVE PRI EVENT

In 1991, a group of queer iends cid to anize an unofficial "gay and lbian day" at Walt Disney World, a day for a small gatherg of the lol LGBTQ muny to e and vis the theme park together. Organizers say 's only gog to keep gettg history of GayDaysNow, GayDays is so big that 's impossible to ignore — but atten at the very first Disney meet-up 1991 took measur to not be immediately intified as LGBTQ by the crowd. They cid to all drs red, "not rabow" bee "they wanted to blend and not necsarily offend anybody, " Steve Erics, GayDays creative director, explaed a phone ll on Friday, addg "not everybody was openly gay.

But for some participants, was seeg the days actn that ma them sure was somethg Livgston/Getty ImagDrag performer Co Montre, who appeared the petn realy show RuPl's Drag Race, first noticed Disney GayDays long before she was famo — she saw the events firsthand durg the 11 years she worked at Disney World as an entertaer, performg paras and shows. "Montre has been a part of the celebratn for more than ten years now, and she clears her schle to make sure she n appear at GayDays every year, now as one of the celebry fac of the event.

'GAY DAYS AT DISNEY' WARNG WAS BRILLIANT, SAYS FAY GROUP

"A chosen fayGayDays, which began as a sgle vis to Disney World's Magic Kgdom, is now a massive, weekend-long event, featurg anized viss to every part of Disney World as well as pageants, pool parti, petns and viss to other area theme parks. It has never been done before and I thk ’s very appropriate light of the very appropriate nature that was gog on at the time, ” said John Stemberger, print of the Florida Fay Policy Council, to The Christian Post on Florida Fay Associatn, no relatns to FFPC, chartered an aircraft to pull two seven-foot high banners – one on Friday and one on Saturday – above the Disney World area to warn potential park goers that atten of Gay Pri Days would vis the Magic Kgdom on June 15, 000 gay atten entered the Disney park on Saturday pared to the normal level of 30, 000 children and their Caton, executive director of Florida Fay Associatn, told CP that members of his staff have been at Disney World durg Gay Days for 18 of the 21 years that the event has occurred. ”For Stemberger, his problem wh Gay Days at Disney is how atten “flnt” their sexualy when children are around, and that Disney allows the event to take place durg normal bs hours when other groups have to e after hours to hold their events.

'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? It has sce ballooned to an annual, multiday event, which draws upwards of 180, 000 people to the Orlando area om across the Fai:LGBTQ people need of stand- parents at weddgs, holidays fd 'fay' Facebook groupWhen are Gay Days 2023?

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

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 attends Gay Days? 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 actually par the event to a fay rnn, specifilly "the fay that gets along rnn. 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.

LGBTQ PEOPLE FLOCK TO FLORIDA FOR DISNEY'S GAY DAYS CELEBRATN

— 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 though Gov.

HOW GAY DAYS MA A HOME AT DISNEY WORLD

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 say a large turnout will send a msage that LGBTQ people are not gog away Florida, which is ntually one of the most popular stat for tourists to vis.

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. ”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. “It’s ls a csa and more like, ‘I’m not gog to spend my money where bad thgs are gog on, ’” Hayn 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.

GAY DAYS RETURNS TO DISNEY WORLD AMID ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ NTROVERSY

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. DeSantis “clared victory” over Disney Febary after creatg a five-person appoted board to oversee the rort, cludg one person who said homosexualy was a rult of ntamated tap water.

Watermark, a Florida-based gay newspaper that has been verg Gay Days sce started, about 150, 000 people attend this June's six-day gatherg, which clud 17 pool parti, a bs expo, a ic-book nventn, a film ftival, an after-hours trip to a Disney water park (thk dance mic and guys very small swimsus), bobble-head patg and tie-dyeg for the kids, rivers of alhol (and some other substanc) for the adults and, on June 5, the great culmatn: 20, 000 to 30, 000 lbians, gays and their fai and iends scendg on Disney World, everyone clad red shirts to signify their prence.

Gay Days started mostly 1991 as a way for some 3, 000 lbians and gays om central Florida to bee more visible — on one day, the first Saturday June — the theme parks that domate the regn's enomy. “Better late then never, ” wrote Twter er posted homophobic and transphobic ments, wh some statg that they would not attend Disneyland on those Ne will clu a dance party wh characters “special attire” and photo opportuni wh “pri-themed backdrops, ” Disneyland officials Ne more than 25 years after the unofficial but immensely popular “Gay Days, ” which began as an after-hours event when the park uld be rented out for private Days is now held durg park hours and attracts thoands of LGBTQ atten each year.

GAY DAYS AT DISNEY – CELEBRATE PRI & LGBT+ HISTORY MONTH – PARK SAVERS

“In the wake of everythg that’s happeng to the untry, that Disney is g out support of the muny and vg the muny , this way, I thk is a great thg, ” said Eddie Shapiro, anizer of Gay Days Anaheim. Although Shapiro exprsed some ambivalence about Disney steppg to a space Gay Days has been fillg succsfully for more than two s, he also said the events n and will n put on lavish and theatril productns wh LGBTQ them, Shapiro said, while Gay Days n host s own events and parti outsi the parks.

The pany has never been known for s great LGBTQ+ reprentatn or polics, but 's e unr even more scty than ual after fans learned that the pany was donatg money to legislators Florida backg that state's ntroversial "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Especially when the news broke that Pixar has been censorg gay ntent out of s films for Disney really been producg enough spirg ntent to unteract s donatns and lack of a statement? Disney and Marvel Studs proudly announced that 2019 they had troduced their first gay character the Marvel Cematic Universe, only to have fans fd out that was an unnamed character one scene played by the movie's straight -director. MacGregor, played by Jack Whehall, was supposed to be Disney's "first major gay character" when Jungle Cise was set to be released way back 2019, but bee of the global panmic, the film was layed until 2021.

AFTER A POLIL STORM, GAY DAYS RETURN TO DISNEY

Artie is one of several characters advertised as the pany's "first major gay character" after both LeFou Bety and the Beast and MacGregor the layed-for-several-years Jungle Cise. After news broke that Disney not only donated to legislators backg anti-gay bills, but also repeatedly cut queer ntent om their movi, Pixar cid to rtore a scene the Lightyear film where a female character named Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba) kiss her female partner.

Comedian Jaboie Young-Whe will be voicg a new character the upg animated film Strange World who is volved "the first openly gay teen romance a Disney feature" acrdg to Twter er Matthiew Saghezchi, who saw a clip om the film at the Annecy 2022 ftival. OffOnLatt:Tmp dictedGilgo Beach murrsTeen cyclist killedHai: The Fotten CrisisKamala Harris terviewWomen's World CupBox office boom1 of 24People rryg imag of those killed the Pulse nightclub shootg walk as part of a vigil durg the 46th annual Gay Pri March, June 26, 2016, New R.