As the person who is responsible for starting and organizing Gay Day at
Disney, I thought it might be time to put to rest some of the misconceptions
which are being thrown about concerning the origins, intents and purposes
behind Gay Day at Disney.

In 1991, I and a small group of friends conceived of meeting at The Magic
Kingdom one day "in the near future" as a social gathering. Much like many
groups of 15 to 20 people might conceive of going to Disney together. I
simply took one extra step, promoting it in gay nightclubs in Orlando, since
we had set a date that was a few months in the future. The media,
specifically The Orlando Sentinel, then various morning radio talk shows in
Orlando, got hold of the plans and thought it newsworthy enough to make
mention of it in their respective forums. About 1,000 to 1,500 gay men and
women ended up at Disney that day in June 1991.

Since then, the event has grown explosively... for two specific reasons: (1)
groups on the religious right of the spectrum constantly make noise about
it, which generates enormous publicity... remember, the press likes
conflict; and (2) gay people who have gone have a lot of fun (as does most
anyone who goes to Disney) and when they returned home, they told friends,
who then gathered together the following year, had fun, went home, and each
told more friends, and so on, till we get to Gay Day #8 in 1998 where we
expect anywhere from 100,000 to 120,000 people to show up throughout the
weekend.

I won't deny that many find the mere presence of a large number of gay
people in one place to be political in nature. However Gay Day at Disney
started out specifically and solely as a time to gather together and HAVE
FUN at Disney. We have never sought to turn it into any sort of political
forum whatsoever, and in the subsequent years, the only time any gay politic
concept comes into play with Gay Day at Disney is when addressing the
politically inspired complaints against the event's mere existence by groups
in the religious right.

Gay Day at Disney is not now, nor has it ever been, nor will it ever be a
political event in purpose or design.

The quotes which have been borrowed out of context at various times trying
to justify claims that this is a political event are referring to a campaign
called "Stand Our Ground" (which I should add was started by a straight
woman in Massachusetts who became thoroughly fed up with all the anti-Disney
redderick spread by certain groups), and the reference "we stand together
against bigotry, hatred and intolerance nationwide" is in reference to that
campaign, not to Gay Day at Disney. If the religious right and extremist
groups such as Operation Rescue could learn to keep their mouths shut and
let others enjoy what Disney offers in peace, we would not be forced into
the position of responding to their misguided actions. But, do not expect we
will not respond in some manner. We will.

Frankly I will immediately discount any straight person arguing against Gay
Day at Disney unless they have personally attended Disney during the event.
If one has something to say, it should be based upon reality, not upon
heresay. And I will say that with very few exceptions, the conversations
going on here about "what goes on at Gay Day" which are held by those
espousing an opinion against the event, are generally without much factual
basis.

If you will momentarily blind yourself to the gender if any particular
individual, then Nothing, Absolutely Nothing, goes on at Disney during Gay
Day that does not happen every other day of the year.

But it is not apparently reasonable to ask that one momentarily blind
oneself to gender. In fact, because gay men and women have for so long in
this country been ostracized by groups in the religious right, among others,
suddenly it becomes quite "noticeable" when two adult men or two adult women
might be holding hands while visiting Disney, whereas hundreds of couples
consisting of a man and a women doing exactly the same thing go completely
unnoticed. That's because ever since we grew up, we had role models
throughout our lives in the friends and strangers around us, and this
behavior, a man and a women holding hands, was so common, we tend to just
tune it out. But differentiate from that, and suddenly it's like being in
the spotlight.

It is not hard to understand that it is a difficult thing for two men or two
women to simply hold hands in public under such a spotlight of scrutiny. The
idea of attending Disney as a group of gay men and women was to provide that
same sense of commonality with sheer numbers. In other words, to permit
these many otherwise completely normal people to "have a day" when they can
enjoy the experiences offered at Disney without feeling that there is some
majestic spotlight identifying such simple behaviors as holding hands in
public with your loved one.

That's entirely what Gay Day at Disney is all about. Nothing more. And
nothing less. While it SHOULD BE quite acceptable for two men or two women
to hold hands in public any time of the year (and it is certainly and
legally quite permissible), that spotlight it puts people under can become
traumatic. Moreso with some of the nastier people who find they must go out
of their way to snort rude comments about that behavior when they become
aware of it. It is NOT a comfortable environment to be in. It should be. But
it is not. One day, it will be, and when that day finally is upon us, Gay
Day at Disney will likely still be around because of the social atmosphere
it has created, but it will no longer be NEEDED.

We try very hard to let as many people know about Gay Day as we possibly can
with the resources we have. Sure, there are people that don't like being
around gay men and women in such numbers. And while we can argue forever
about calling them names, they exist, and all we can do to try to help them
get through Gay Day is to help them plan around it. Disney does not help
very much in that regard, because for them, this is just another day in the
business they run. They have nothing to do with it, and have no problem with
it. They simply do what they do every other day of the year.

Now, I won't deny we have always had reasonable access to Disney management
(at least as of 1993), but it is not because Disney was doing anything for
us or helping us. It was because we worked together to try to find ways to
ensure this did NOT turn into a political event, and did NOT become anything
more than a time to have fun at Disney, like every other day. I could cite
case after case, actually, where normal business decisions were made by
Disney management to AVOID appearing to be doing anything at all for Gay
Day. Any other company (and many in Orlando during Gay Day do take advantage
of the gay tourists in town, as they rightly should) would recognize the
market that exists that weekend and work towards opportunities to provide
entertainment and make some additional money from it. But this fever-pitch
nonsense spouted left and right by the religious right and similar groups
has caused them to look almost too closely at everything they might
otherwise do. For example, the week after Gay Day, at Downtown Disney
Pleasure Island, Vibe Magazine and Disney are bringing in all sorts of live
entertainment to celebrate Black History month. Why won't Disney bring in
entertainment that might be specifically attractive to a gay crowd?  Would
any straight person really object to more live entertainment at Pleasure
Island? Do only gay people go to Madonna concerts?  Or, for that matter,
Village People concerts (Disney booked Village People for Pleasure Island
New Years Eve one year, in fact... certainly raised no eyebrows then, so why
would it during Gay Day?)

With absolute certainty, I am sure that Disney does not deserve any of this
boycott nonsense. It is grossly unfair to them as a company, and to every
guest who spends their hard earned money at Disney.

Now, on to the shirts: we never expected to be the majority of the park
population when Gay Day first began (and frankly, I'm not sure I would ever
have believed back then that Gay Day would become so big so fast), and the
"wear red" idea was one I came up with as a means of us being able to "find
eachother" easily and feel more comfortable in general. Contrary to some
people's beliefs, you generally cannot tell a gay person from a straight
person if you were to just look at them. Since then, the t-shirts have taken
on a life of their own. Another fact: Disney management first got involved
with us directly in an attempt to defuse what they thought might be
happening as we came in larger and larger numbers, and the red became more
of an issue, especially with other guests who happened to wear red without
realizing the meaning we had given it that weekend. So we tried to eliminate
it in 1994. Well, it didn't work. But also in 1994, Disney started feeling
more comfortable with people's behavior. It was obvious that it was not
turning into a political platform for the gay community, but was continuing
on its course as an entirely social gathering to have fun. And I got so many
complaints about not having red shirts that we went back to that in
following years.

Disney management bends over backwards to address every complaint they get,
even those made with certain malicious intent. For several years, they gave
away free shirts to those guests wearing red who were upset to find
themselves in the park on Gay Day. They provided free tickets and
transportation to any other park (even non-Disney parks) to guests who
didn't want to be there. And those wonderful people at places like City Hall
had to endure endless hateful comments, too. Yet, they didn't flinch, they
smiled, and helped everywhere they could.

These last few years, Disney has gotten some backbone on those issues, as
word spread about how easy it was to get "something for nothing" out of
Disney just by acting like a bigot, Disney has clamped down more and more,
and nowadays is less likely to blanketly do those sorts of things to
everyone complaining, yet they still do bend over backwards to be helpful.

I hope that answers a few of the questions people have had, and with some
facts rather than innuendo, hearsay and simply wrong information.

So before you blindly bash Disney for something they have absolutely nothing
to do with, you might think first, and realize that Disney HAS gone out of
their way to assist people who have problems with Gay Day, without any real
reason except that they want every guest, gay or straight, to enjoy what the
parks have to offer. But some people are simply never satisfied unless the
entire world fits the exact framework for it which they have created in
their own minds. The United States was formed mostly because of religious
persecution in other countries, so before you just blindly start persecuting
people for being different, think what a wonderful place this country is
compared even today to many countries elsewhere in this world. Think how
much nicer it could be if everyone could simply exist day to day being who
they are and feeling welcome wherever they might go. And think about the
traumatic effect on those who must suffer because others do not permit them
that basic human right to be who they are. Gay Day at Disney is a very tiny
attempt to provide a glimpse of such a wonderful ideal world in a very
magical resort to a number of people that do not have the benefit of
enjoying their lives in peace. Perhaps Gay Day's apparent success at this in
so little time is a sign that there's more wrong in the rest of the country
than many people admit.

---
Doug Swallow
Founder/Organizer, Gay Day at Disney
http://www.gayday.com

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