Gay days- questions and possible conversation

[Freyja]

Let me start by saying I visited WDW last year with my family of 6 during "Gay days".

I loved the whole concept and atmosphere of "Gay days" and have thought about it often since then.

At the moment I work as a marketing teacher at a business college and I have been discussing various target groups (for marketing) and various brands and images with my students. I have been trying to teach them to keep their eyes and minds open and not to view the world as black or white, since it actually is very complex and colorful While doing this the whole idea of Disney as child oriented AND gay "friendly" has often come to mind. It makes perfect sense as kid friendly and gay friendly should never have to exclude one or the other. However, so many other companies, organisations, etc. seem to see it that way.

Does anyone here know the story behind "Gay Days"? Or the opinions of some of the original Disney clan in regards to this?

I find it amazing and awesome at the same time that one of the most child and family oriented brands in the world does this.

Any info on the subject would be greatly appreciated

Have a great day everyone!

 

[rpmdfw]

Does anyone here know the story behind "Gay Days"? Or the opinions of some of the original Disney clan in regards to this?

The "history" of Gay Days will vary by who tells it to you.

Essentially it began with a small, local, internet bulletin board group in 1992 saying, "Hey, let's get together at the Magic Kingdom one day for an outing. Wear red so we can find each other." A few people on the that bulletin board started spreading the word and put our fliers. That got some local press attention, and the first "Official Unofficial Gay Day" had a few hundred attendees. From there, word of mouth, news stories and protests brought more publicity and it's grown into what it is today--one of the biggest gay and lesbian destination events in the world.

That's the nut-shell version. Anybody else have any other info that I've missed?

 

[Freyja]

Thanks for the info!

 

[rpmdfw]

I finally got the chance to look through gayday.com to find the page I wanted, so here's some more on the history of Gay Day: http://www.gayday.com/faq/gay_day_origins.asp