I must point out one thing to the people who keep saying that it's a justified question specifically because Gay Days is about sexuality.
Being gay goes way beyond what a person does in their bedroom. It follows them to work, into their community, into schools and the justice system and health care and a number of other places where a cisgendered straight person doesn't have to stop and wonder if their sexuality is going to be a problem.
Gay Days Anaheim is about a fun, safe time and place to be part of a community, to support and be supported, and to stop worrying, for a weekend, that maybe you're not welcome because of who you are. That's not about sexuality. That's about being a human being.
Very well said.
Isn't the whole point of this event that it is supposed to be a safe place for families and friends to spend time WITHOUT having to worry if someone is going to judge, point or stare simply because they don't fall within a certain narrow-minded definition of "normal"? Isn't the fact that it's widely publicized enough "warning" that if you're the type who will faint dead away or cover your children's eyes if two guys, or two gals, indulge in a 30-second lip lock, that it's probably not the ideal Disneyland vacation timeline for you?
If we were talking about African-American days or Disabled Days or Fat Days, for that matter, would anyone feel justified in asking how black the people there were going to be? Or how large or disabled the people attending? Cause, you know, their kids had never seen wheelchairs, or obesity or different skin tones where they live? All could potentially be the start of some very awkward and potentially uncomfortable conversations with your children.
As for "what to tell the children," what I tell my son whenever I see someone doing something in public that I find objectionable is, simply: "Yuck. Gross. That's bad. Don't ever do it."
That having been said, I don't see how any form of consensual affection between two adults, short of public fornication, which is illegal, could "harm" anyone or "cause confusion" or "fear" or require you to have "the talk" in even the most sheltered preschooler. Obviously those two people like each other. How could that possibly be harmful to view?
Do I want to watch two teenagers, of any orientation, go at it? (A relatively common Friday night occurrence in Disneyland, which is a popular hangout for Orange County youth.) Ehh, not really. But I can easily solve that by some kind of radical action like, say, turning my head or walking away. I'd much rather see a make out session than a brawl, for instance. I think the former, no matter who it is between, is a lot less "scaring" and scary than the latter, for kids.
Listen, if you leave your home AT ALL, you're gonna see and hear stuff that doesn't perfectly match up to your own ideals and belief system, at Disneyland and everywhere else, too. Cursing, rude gestures, too much skin exposed, overtly sexual behavior, excessive PDA, hate speech, violence, rudeness ... It's all out there. Learn to deal with it or sequester your family in a cave. Your choice.
