LGBTQ+ people flock to Florida for Gay Days ftival | AP News

Contents:

• LGBTQ PEOPLE FLOCK TO FLORIDA FOR DISNEY'S GAY DAYS CELEBRATN
• AFTER PROTTS, DISNEY CEO SPEAKS OUT AGAST FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL
• WHAT DAYS ARE GAY DAYS AT DISNEY WORLD? EVERYTHG TO KNOW ABOUT THE RED SHIRT TRADN.
• FLORIDA TEACHER UNR VTIGATN FOR SHOWG DISNEY MOVIE WH GAY CHARACTER SAYS SHE DIDN’T KNOW LGBTQ RTRICTN APPLIED TO HER CLASS
• DISNEY WORLD WEL THOANDS OF LGBTQ+ PEOPLE TO CELEBRATE GAY DAYS: ‘WE ARE HERE, WE ARE QUEER AND WE AREN’T GOG ANYWHERE’
• ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ UNEXPECTED SHOWDOWN BETWEEN FLORIDA, DISNEY RPORATN
• DISNEY WEL GAY DAYS FLORIDA AS THE FD WH DESANTIS RAG ON
• GAY DISNEY EMPLOYEE RIPS PANY'S STANCE ON FLORIDA BILL: 'DISNEY DO NOT SPEAK FOR ME'
• DISNEY TO LOSE SPECIAL TAX STAT FOR OPPOSG FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
• DISNEY BRANDS SLAM FLORIDA ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL AHEAD OF EMPLOYEE WALKOUT
• DISNEY CEO BOB CHAPEK BREAKS SILENCE ON FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL
• LGBTQ+ PEOPLE FLOCK TO FLORIDA FOR GAY DAYS FTIVAL
• DISNEY CEO SAYS PANY OPPOS 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL FLORIDA, SEEKS MEETG WH DESANTIS
• DISNEY EMPLOYE STAGE WALKOUT TO MAND ACTN AGAST 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

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. 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.

AFTER PROTTS, DISNEY CEO SPEAKS OUT AGAST FLORIDA'S 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

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.

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.

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

But today s reputatn for clivy and tolerance is unr scty – as are s ep ti to the polil tablishment and the lack of LGBTQ reprentatn s ’s workers have been stagg walkouts prott at chief executive Bob Chapek’s lackltre rponse to Florida legislatn dubbed “don’t say gay”.

But their prejudic were laid bare by a tweet om Christa Phaw, prs secretary for Florida’s ernor, Ron DeSantis, that said: “The bill that liberals accurately ll ‘don’t say gay’ would be more accurately scribed as an anti-groomg bill.

It has been nmned as “hateful” by Joe Bin and other Democrats who argue that monis LGBTQ, prs secretary of the LGBTQ rights anisatn Equaly Florida and a survivor of the Pulse nightclub shootg 2016, says: “The ‘don’t say gay bill’ was dubbed that by the muny bee is a bigoted, very specifilly anti-LGBTQ piece of legislatn signed to censor classroom speech about our muny. They give to a lot of Democrats, bee they want those Democrats to be on their si too, but they have given a disproportnate amount to Republin legislators, many of whom supported and voted for the ‘don’t say gay’ bill.

FLORIDA TEACHER UNR VTIGATN FOR SHOWG DISNEY MOVIE WH GAY CHARACTER SAYS SHE DIDN’T KNOW LGBTQ RTRICTN APPLIED TO HER CLASS

The Human Rights Campaign has said will stop acceptg money om Disney “until we see them build on their public mment and work wh LGBTQ+ advot to ensure that dangero proposals, like Florida’s ‘don’t say gay or trans’ bill, don’t bee dangero laws” Whehall and Ey Blunt Jungle Cise.

DISNEY WORLD WEL THOANDS OF LGBTQ+ PEOPLE TO CELEBRATE GAY DAYS: ‘WE ARE HERE, WE ARE QUEER AND WE AREN’T GOG ANYWHERE’

Eric Marc, creator and host of the Makg Gay History podst, says: “Disney has cultivated an LGBTQ-iendly image, both through their cln of LGBTQ characters recent years and wh their employe, so ’s shockg but not shockg that the CEO would have been so flat-footed.

‘DON’T SAY GAY’ UNEXPECTED SHOWDOWN BETWEEN FLORIDA, DISNEY RPORATN

Photograph: APFor s the stud’s output was steadfastly heterosexual even though s creative talents clud gay people such as Howard Ashman, an Osr wner who wrote the lyrics for The Ltle Mermaid and Bety and the Beast before his ath om Aids has been some progrs sce then wh a growg LGBTQ portrayals films and TV shows and the sellg of LGBTQ pri-themed merchandise at Disney stor.

DISNEY WEL GAY DAYS FLORIDA AS THE FD WH DESANTIS RAG ON

"The Human Rights Campaign will not accept this money om Disney until we see them build on their public mment and work wh LGBTQ+ advot to ensure that dangero proposals, like Florida's Don't Say Gay or Trans bill, don't bee dangero laws, and if they do, to work to get them off the books, " says Joni Madison, Interim Print of the Human Rights Campaign a statement.

Acrdg to the acuntabily news se Popular Informatn, " the last two years, Disney has donated $197, 162 to members of the Florida legislature that have already voted for the 'Don't Say Gay' legislatn, " cludg to sponsors of the bill, Florida Rep. 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. Griff, who is also a profsor of film and media arts at Southern Methodist Universy, add that Disney has recently received a lot of publicy about var Disney films wh openly gay characters.

GAY DISNEY EMPLOYEE RIPS PANY'S STANCE ON FLORIDA BILL: 'DISNEY DO NOT SPEAK FOR ME'

Even though Disney’s re product of fay-iendly entertament hasn’t been blatant s reprentatn of gay characters, ABC — which is owned by Disney — has done so wh TV shows like “Morn Fay” and “Ellen. '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?

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. A Florida teacher unr a state vtigatn for showg a Disney movie featurg a gay character said she wasn’t aware the state’s ntroversial law banng stctn about certa LGBTQ topics had been recently expand to apply to her gra level.

DISNEY TO LOSE SPECIAL TAX STAT FOR OPPOSG FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

When DeSantis signed the ban to law last year, he and other Florida Republins touted as a protectn of parents’ rights, while opponents slammed as yet another effort by GOP lawmakers the state to erase and opprs LGBTQ people schools, llg the “Don’t Say Gay” bill. 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.

And other civil rights anizatns to issue warngs that 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. 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.

DISNEY BRANDS SLAM FLORIDA ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL AHEAD OF EMPLOYEE WALKOUT

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. This also means the annual 'Gay Days' have begun at Walt Disney World for LGBTQ+ muny members and theme park lovers alike.Dpe an tense legal battle between the entertament pany and Gov. Ron DeSantis after they spoke out agast the state's 'Don't Say Gay' bill last year, atten om across the globe are headg to the theme parks to kick off Pri Month.Insi sop on Gay Days om CEO:What days are Gay Days at Disney World?

Disney fd sparks onle morsHere's what to know about the annual LGBTQ+ gatherg Orlando:What are 'Gay Days' at Disney World?Gay Days Orlando is where lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) dividuals, their fai, iends, and supporters go to Walt Disney World. Along wh days at the theme parks, lol hotels and tablishments hold events to mark the six-day event.What is the signifince of the red shirt durg Gay Days?Arguably the most proment part of Gay Days, participants wear red shirts to specific parks to celebrate their inty or support others.Back at the origal gatherg, attendants wore red shirts to make their prence more visible to other members of the muny.Now, the red shirt self has bee a movement, wh LGBTQ nonprof Kdred Pri Foundatn g as a symbol for s missn to spread diversy and kdns.When did the event first start?The first documented event was held June 1991 where roughly 3,000 LGBTQ+ people om central Florida went to the area's theme parks on one day wearg red shirts.

DISNEY CEO BOB CHAPEK BREAKS SILENCE ON FLORIDA’S ‘DON’T SAY GAY’ BILL

Some reports claim was held even before then wh only a handful of people startg the event.In 1995, the event had grown to over 10,000 gays and lbians travelg for 'Gay Day' at Disney.By the 2010s, the event had reached over 150,000 LGBT people, their fai, iends and supporters attend the six-day gatherg Orlando.When are Gay Days happeng this year?This year, Disney Gay Days is takg place om May 31 to June 4.Gay Days Orlando weekend lendar 2023FridayWalt Disney World's Hollywood Studs - 8:30 a.m.

LGBTQ+ PEOPLE FLOCK TO FLORIDA FOR GAY DAYS FTIVAL

To 5 p.m.See the rt of the lendar and other events here.What n you do durg Gay Days outsi of the parks?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.This year, there will also be a new Beach Ball waterpark party at Aquati Orlando, which is an event sponsor.Do Disney sponsor Gay Days?Disney do not sponsor or promote Gay Days, however, s Parks & Rorts divisn celebrat Pri Month by lnchg a themed llectn ahead of time.Are there preutns this year wh recent anti-LGBTQ legislatn?Dpe the current turmoil between Gov.

Ron DeSantis, Disney, and recent legislatn passed, the event is still gog on and many regular Gay Day atten have ma the trek to Orlando this year.In April, the natn's largt LGBTQ advocy group Equaly Florida issued a travel advisory for the LGBTQ+ muny warng members not to e to the state.

Florida HB 1521 - requir people to e bathrooms that le up wh their sex assigned at birth.What special merch do Gay Days have this year?On May 15, Disney released s 2023 Pri Collectn, which they claim was created by members and alli of the LGBTQIA+ muny. — Mark Stegall and Robert Motz knew they’d ma the right cisn to travel to Florida when they spotted a sea of people wearg red T-shirts emblazoned wh the words “Say Gay” ont of Walt Disney World’s Magic partners om Galburg, Ill., have been g to the annual Gay Days celebratn at Disney for years and ultimately cid they weren’t gog to let travel advisori, new state laws targetg the LGBTQ muny and a bter public fd between Florida Gov.

DISNEY CEO SAYS PANY OPPOS 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL FLORIDA, SEEKS MEETG WH DESANTIS

”The massive Pri Month gatherg marked a show of fiance this weekend a state where librarians have been pullg gay-themed books off the shelv, teachers are no longer allowed to discs genr inty or sexual orientatn and many LGBTQ fai feel unr attack. In the end, all 1, 001 rooms at the host hotel were booked, though Gay Days chief executive Joseph Clark said travel warngs om civil rights and equaly groups advisg agast travel to Florida had impacted turnout. “The primary objective of this project is to warn fai before they expose their children to Gay Day’s revelry, ” the group said a prs release at the as DeSantis spats wh Disney, the park has bee an epicenter for the ernor’s culture war agast all thgs “woke” — a term he equently vok to ph legislatn placg rtrictns on the LGBTQ muny.

DISNEY EMPLOYE STAGE WALKOUT TO MAND ACTN AGAST 'DON'T SAY GAY' BILL

”Neher Disney nor DeSantis rpond to a requt for ment on the Gay Days the months leadg up to this year’s Gay Days, some visors lled , worried about their personal safety or exprsg fear of arrt if they attend one of the event-sponsored drag shows, Clark said.

(Vio: Rhma Kirpalani, Zoeann Murphy/The Washgton Post, Photo: Mela Mara/The Washgton Post)Jt May was mglg at a pool party Friday drsed a tangere orange one-piece Marilyn Monroe-style bathg su, gettg ready for the next phase of the Miss Gay Days ntt.

”Events like bgo and pool parti took place outsi of Walt Disney World, but si the Magic Kgdom and Disney’s other theme parks, Gay Days visors filled l for ris and souvenir shops — one visor, drsed a T-shirt wh the words “Don’t Say DeSantis. Gary Lucia spoke out on Disney’s opposn to the bill, sayg through his experience as a gay man that he unrstood his fellow LGBT workers' feelgs about the bill when they heard the "Don’t Say Gay" bill had been then poted out that the bill don’t e the word "gay" at all and lled the msagg agast the bill phed by the Magic Kgdom a "Trojan horse.