A Brief Timele of Disney's 17 'First Gay Characters'

disney gay week 2017

LGBTQ people are flockg to Florida this weekend to take part Gay Days, Disney's Pri celebratn.

Contents:

HOW DISNEY GAYDAYS QUIETLY BEME A MASSIVE PRI EVENT

Disney Gay Days - Walt Disney World Theme Park Guis for gay and lbian * disney gay week 2017 *

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.

It attracted ranr om nservativ — 1998, televangelist Pat Robertson warned that Walt Disney World would be punished wh hurrin for allowg GayDays to take place. 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.

DISNEY GAY DAYS AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

Many people head to Disneyland Gay Days each year, which do add to crowds the parks — but will be fun, fay-iendly crowds. * disney gay week 2017 *

"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. Even though the days have bee a longstandg tradn, GayDays is still unofficial, and not formally associated wh Disney World. And, he said, fosterg a sense of fay among the LGBTQ muny is, and always has been, one of the most important parts of GayDays.

Oh, and for those of you who have never been to gay days at Disney before, you really have no ia what you have been missg out on! Way before the teemg Red Shirt-wearg mass began scendg upon the Disney Parks for Gay Days, queer people have long had a love affair wh Disney.

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. A gifted dtrial signer, Bob, then a closeted gay man, was ved to jo Walt Disney Imageerg – lled WED Enterpris at the time – by Walt himself.

2017 GAY DAYS @ THE WALT DISNEY WORLD RORT

2017 Gay Days @ the Walt Disney World Rort is jt about four months away and I n't wa! My partner and I will be flyg late Tuday May 30th and... * disney gay week 2017 *

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.

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 . There’s even the Gay Biz Expo wh exhibors toutg everythg om fashn, travel, and weddgs to fancial planng servic, healthre, and home renovatns.

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

Wh Pri Month jt around the rner, here’s everythg you n look forward to for Gay Days at Disney World and the Disneyland Rort.  * disney gay week 2017 *

Girls jt want to have fun, and for over 20 years, Girls Wonrland has been helpg queer women do jt that durg Gay Days Orlando. 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.

When news outlets reported that The Walt Disney Company donated money to legislators who supported Florida’s ntroversial “Don’t Say Gay” bill, Disney CEO Bob Chapek sent an ternal memo to the pany sayg Disney would still “unequivolly” support s LGBTQ employe.

In 2017, director Bill Condon, who is gay himself, told Attu Magaze that his versn of Bety and the Beast, Gaston’s henchman LeFou (Josh Gad) would have a csh on Gaston (Le Evans). Two years after g out, Cys also beme the first Disney character to say the words “I’m gay” out loud, when Cys sually told another iend about his sexualy.

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

Bob Chapek mentned Disney creatg "spirg" queer ntent when addrsg the pany’s supposed support of the ntroversial "Don’t Say Gay" bill. Here are all Disney’s official gay moments om movi and TV seri. * disney gay week 2017 *

Vtage-store owner Artie do not mentn his sexualy Cella, but John McCrea, the openly gay actor who plays him, says he read the character as queer and portrayed him as such.

'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?

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 attends 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.

GAY DAYS RETURNS TO WALT DISNEY WORLD AFTER 2-YEAR HIAT

Gay Days at Disney World is the world's most popular gay and lbian celebratn, attractg over 150,000 gay and lbian travelers to Orlando Florida. It started out as a sgle day the Magic Kgdom has grown to one of the largt gay and lbian events to clu a bs expo, parti, theme park and attractn events and much more. Gay Days tak place the first weekend June Orlando Florida. Gay Days will feature The Gay Days Expo, ncerts, edy events and parti. Schled days for Gay Day at the Parks are also a part of this huge Lbian and Gay celebratn. * disney gay week 2017 *

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. Updated on June 7th, 2022 by Danielle Bnti: In the wake of Florida's extremely ntroversial "Don't Say Gay" bill and the strong cricism that me om wh The Walt Disney Company for not speakg up, seems like Disney is fally unrstandg out important LGBTQ+ reprentatn is for s fans and s st members.

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

Disney’s ntroversial rponse to Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill unrsr the pany’s plited history wh the LGBTQ+ muny — a plex relatnship which Disney has played both champn and punchg bag. * disney gay week 2017 *

Artie Cella is an openly gay character who teracts wh the ma character throughout the new movie that foc on Cella Vil om 101 Dalmatians.

Artie is able to be his thentic self and actor John McCrea is happy wh his portrayal of Artie and believ him to be a gay character, but Disney yet aga ma the mistake of not fully lvg to Artie beg an openly gay character. Orka and Flix Star Wars Ristance are two openly gay characters who aren't human and are actually two different speci but are openly a relatnship the seri. Jungle Cise hasn't technilly been released yet, but Disney has been clear that one of the major characters the movie, McGregor Houghton, will be gay.

Certa groups are upset at the ia of a children's movie reprentg the LGBTQ+ muny while progrsiv are upset at Jack Whehall's stg, believg a gay actor should be st, and the ia that might be a stereotypil, harmful reprentatn. Before the live-actn versn of Bety and the Beast me out 2017, director Bill Condon announced an terview that one character would have a gay sp. The show's creator and executive producer Terri Msky said that Cys and his story were largely spired by Terri's dghter's iends, who knew that they were gay middle school.

After a two-year spensn due to the ronavis panmic, Gay Days is returng to Central Florida. * disney gay week 2017 *

Pixar jt released a new short, aptly tled Out, that foc on a young man named Greg who has a secret: he's gay, and he has a boyiend named Manuel. Pixar's 2020 short film Out revolved around a gay man as s ma character, a big step for the stud, though was released on Disney+ and not shown ont of a feature film like other Pixar shorts often Disney's non-Pixar animated movie Zootopia om 2016, the ma character liv next door to a gay married antelope uple, but this isn't at all clear the movie self.

And 2013's Frozen, fans have speculated the tradg post owner Oaken might be gay, as we see his fay appears to nsist of a man and several kids. More recently, some crics read a gay subtext to Pixar's 2021 film Lu, which centers around the relatnship between two young boy sea monsters. Outsi of animatn, Disney's 2017 live-actn Bety and the Beast suggted Gaston's sikick LeFou is gay, givg him a three-send shot where he danc wh another man.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* DISNEY GAY WEEK 2017

Gay Days at Disney World celebrate Pri, LGBTQ inty. What to know .

TOP