Gay Days

[Kelsie]

disney11fan has every right to avoid the parks during these times. This is completely their choice!

I’m not going to debate this with you because we obviously have different tolerance levels, but if believing everyone should have the basic human right to live their lives without being subjected to persecution, ridicule, bullies and ignorance is your definition of ‘intolerance than I am certainly guilty.

 

[mdsoccermom]

Who would decide what's "Bigotry, Intolerance and Discrimination"? Would the vaccine be modified as society changes? Who decides what's acceptable and unacceptable? 100 years ago, general society didn't find homosexuality as "mainstream". 300 years ago, black people were slaves. Right now, poligamy is still a taboo. Will that be true in 100 years?

The problem with free will is that people are going to do, believe, or say things you don't like. Be it being gay or not like gay people.

It's disney11fan's & jedijohn's right to avoid situation and people they are uncomfortable with. It's not like these people are advocating violence or are not going to hire someone who is gay.

Who schedules trips to avoid Brazillian tour groups or cheerleading groups at Disney? Some do it because they don't like heavy crowds. Some do it because they don't like foreigners. Or cheerleaders. Do we call these people out?

As society changes, older beliefs become less acceptable and eventually those who still have those beliefs are "intolerant". See: slavery, interracial marriage, etc.

By looking down at someone because they have older beliefs, aren't we also being intolerant? How is that any better?

And the beauty of free will is that I can think people are ignorant, bigoted idiots.

You cannot compare the remarks made here regarding Gay Days to peopel wanting to avoid the noisiness of Brazilian tour groups or cheerleaders. Now, if someone said they wanted to avoid Brazilian tour groups because they didn't want to be around large groups of foreigners, then yes, I'd call them bigots.

If you want to call me intolerant because I cannot abide by ignorance and the shortsightedness of others, then have at it. I can live with that.

 

[C&G'sMama]

Here's my take on this. Here is my issue with folks coming on and making negative comments. Someone asked what the crowds were like, period.
But it seems like anytime there is a question about gay days some folks feel it neccessary to make a negative comment, it's your right, yes, but unneccessary and doesn't add anything to the original intent of the thread.

 

[wdwmom0f3]

It was 10 years ago, so more than likely things could have changed quite a bit, but I took my mom, sister, and 3 nieces the first week of June and despite the "warning" we got from the lady at the travel center in Ocala, we still went to the MK on Saturday and it was JUST fine. We chose not to wear our red shirts that day but as far as crowds went, it was nothing on the extreme side. All the couples we saw were very friendly and the ones who sat with us on the monorail actually had us in stitches laughing about how exhausted they were and felt like little old ladies who needed to sleep for the next 12 hours straight. They were young men of course, but were quite entertaining!

That would have cracked me up too! It sounds like they were having a good time.

We are also going to be there that same week and I am not concerned at all. We will be avoiding their park days a couple of days, but that was just the way we planned our trip in the first place.

 

[GinnyEmma]

Too bad they don't have a vaccine for it.

Wow. i feel so bad for your kids. I hope none of them are gay and have to deal with you.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

If you want to call me intolerant because I cannot abide by ignorance and the shortsightedness of others, then have at it. I can live with that.

I'm intolerant of a lot of things and a lot of kinds of people, too. Some I know I shouldn't be. Others I can live with as well.

 

[stashbin]

I personally don't want to watch anyone make out. I don't care if they are straight or gay. There's a time and place for everything.

I think today's children have been exposed to a lot more than we ever were when we were kids. I believe they are also more tolerant than we were taught to be. I am pretty conservative, and I feel we teach our children pretty traditional values. However, if my kids happened to see a gay couple sneak a smooch while waiting in line, so what! If my kids asked me about it I would explain that the world is beautiful because it is made up of all kinds of people. Mommy and daddy smooch, and they (people in line) love each other like mommy and daddy. No biggie. It's not a big deal unless you make it one.

 

[Anna_Marie]

I personally don't want to watch anyone make out. I don't care if they are straight or gay. There's a time and place for everything.

I think today's children have been exposed to a lot more than we ever were when we were kids. I believe they are also more tolerant than we were taught to be. I am pretty conservative, and I feel we teach our children pretty traditional values. However, if my kids happened to see a gay couple sneak a smooch while waiting in line, so what! If my kids asked me about it I would explain that the world is beautiful because it is made up of all kinds of people. Mommy and daddy smooch, and they (people in line) love each other like mommy and daddy. No biggie. It's not a big deal unless you make it one.

yes.

 

[NotUrsula]

We've been going that week with kids for YEARS; and I have never seen inappropriate PDA by gay couples in the parks. Yes, I've been told that it happens, but in 14 trips I've never personally seen it. However, I do have a few caveats:

Regarding crowd levels: in the old days when all tickets included park hopping, the "designated day" in each park was never crowded, because the offended people would walk in, take a look around, see men dressed in drag and men holding hands, and bolt for another park. That has changed since park hopping became an extra-cost option. Now the MK, in particular, does get quite crowded when it is the designated day, but usually only until late afternoon unless there is a night EMH. Gay couples without children usually seem to leave the parks fairly early in order to attend the offsite hotel parties.

Regarding offensive behaviour: IME, there are two categories of offensive behavior that have recently begun to be common enough for me to consider it a problem. The first one is clothing, specifically risque t-shirts.
I find that when these are worn by heterosexuals the problem is usually images, but when they are worn by gays the problem is more often words. The word situation usually involves sexually-explicit puns that are meant as an insult to the reader, and kids who can read do tend to ask what they mean. I do feel that Disney Security needs to take a stronger position on tshirts and force people to turn them at the gate.

The second category is loud exchanges of foul language, usually triggered when a straight person inexplicably feels the need to vocally insult a gay guest. (VERY often the instigator is elderly, IME) The foul language usually starts to fly when the gay guest (or his or her partner) feels a need to respond in kind, and it escalates from there. Again, I think this has a lot to do with the demise of free park-hopping; people who are homophobic but don't have park-hopping feel that they have no choice but to stay, but they get angry about the situation and walk around just itching for a fight. (I think that for those who go to Guest Services to complain (and there are many of them -- they are loud, too), Disney's best way to diffuse the situation would be to give them a free park-hopper good that day only.))

 

[mdsoccermom]

Frankly, the most offensive thing I've seen at Disney was the woman with the skintight gold lame booty shorts which showed every dimple, nook and cranny of her rear end.

 

[FoundMyPrince]

If your are interested in the opinion of the gentleman who founded Dis regarding Gay Days please read the following article:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-gay-days.htm

 

[GinnyEmma]

Frankly, the most offensive thing I've seen at Disney was the woman with the skintight gold lame booty shorts which showed every dimple, nook and cranny of her rear end.

Mine were a set of twins about 11ish with cute thing 1 and 2 t's on. Then they turned around, and there shirts were tied up, shorts were bikini line, and their red thongs were showing, a lot. It made me sick.

We have been to wdw several time for this week. Never did i see anything offensive.

The op asked about crowds, and they weren't an issue either.

 

[december]

If your are interested in the opinion of the gentleman who founded Dis regarding Gay Days please read the following article:

http://www.wdwinfo.com/disney-gay-days.htm

I read that article, but that was not MY experience during gay days.

I'm from central MS (several of us on this thread), and I was more offended by one of my high school students and his girlfriend in Walmart last weekend than I was by anything in WDW during Gay Days. If you don't want to be "exposed" to it, then make sure you go to different parks. I on the other hand wanted to see what the big deal was about..........

 

[indimom]

We went during Gay Days in both 2005 and 2010. The crowds were no worse on the designated gay days than any other day of the trips EXCEPT Star Wars weekend days. Those are just crazy crowded in general.
And since it is being discussed, we saw nothing offensive on either trip (in fact I didn't even know about the gay days events until after we got back home on our first trip).

 

[smidgy]

gay days..is this a joke. if not please make us aware of what days this is. i plan to take my family wife and son to disney end of may first of june for a week. graduation present from high school . days can always be changed. i don't want to be down there if this is what is going on. usually travel in aug sept time frame and have never heard of this. please help us .. really is this true or someone's idea of a bad joke.

Sadly it is true. You may seriously consider rescheduling your trip. See the website for more info: www.gaydays.com

i can't believe it. does disney promote this. please tell me they don't. i have never heard of this. it scares the heck out of me and makes me s... to even think of this at a family theme park.

may 31-june 6 no way no how will i bring my family to disney. very conservative .... if you can't stand it your better off not going down there at that time of year.


when did this stuff start and how does a company like disney endorse this?

i can't deal with this. i don't like it in my face. thanks for sharing the dates when this stuff takes place. disney should warn park visitors when this takes place.

you would think they were inviting guests with the bubonic plague to infiltrate the parks!!!

I saw more "tonsil hockey" with hetero sexual couples than I ever saw in early June. (when we used to bring ours sons, right after school left out.)

I agree about the t-shirts. I don't like any risque tshirts at a family theme park, or any tshirts with curse words, either.

amd I think most gay couples,or families gay or otherwise,, etc., don't care for obscene t- shirts either.

but you do have the occasional teen or 20 something, what ever the gender or sexual preference, trying to "make a point".

at POP centruy in early dec, there was a family by the hippy dippy pool. hanging around and about to enter the food court, bus area. mom, dad, kids, and a teen girl. the teen girl was wearing a shirt (pulled down off of one shoulder... she thought she was "lookin' fine") with a nasty swear word on it , the swear word repeated.

I couldn't believe the parents LET her wear that!!!in public, with her younger siblings. and, if I were a Cm, I would have made her turn it inside out, and I certainly hoped they would have, had she been in a park with it. but it should not have been even at a Disney resort.

but if 2 females (or 2 males) wearing red t-shirts; at a theme park, hug, or kiss? THAT's a major problem?


now, the crowds .. if there is an event.. that is something I would like to know about ahead of time....

 

[disfan07]

I personally don't want to watch anyone make out. I don't care if they are straight or gay. There's a time and place for everything.

I think today's children have been exposed to a lot more than we ever were when we were kids. I believe they are also more tolerant than we were taught to be. I am pretty conservative, and I feel we teach our children pretty traditional values. However, if my kids happened to see a gay couple sneak a smooch while waiting in line, so what! If my kids asked me about it I would explain that the world is beautiful because it is made up of all kinds of people. Mommy and daddy smooch, and they (people in line) love each other like mommy and daddy. No biggie. It's not a big deal unless you make it one.

I think this is probably one of the best responses i've seen to anything on the DIS in a while.

There's a difference between not agreeing with what other people do and being RESPECTFUL about their choices and not agreeing with it and being ignorant, close minded and completely DISRESPECTFUL.

The post I quoted---very very respectful

The other posts-- very disrespectful and I'm glad to not know them in real life

 

[smidgy]

I think this is probably one of the best responses i've seen to anything on the DIS in a while.

There's a difference between not agreeing with what other people do and being RESPECTFUL about their choices and not agreeing with it and being ignorant, close minded and completely DISRESPECTFUL.

The post I quoted---very very respectful

The other posts-- very disrespectful and I'm glad to not know them in real life

ITA!

 

[sjaakie]

you would think they were inviting guests with the bubonic plague to infiltrate the parks!!!

I saw more "tonsil hockey" with hetero sexual couples than I ever saw in early June. (when we used to bring ours sons, right after school left out.)

I agree about the t-shirts. I don't like any risque tshirts at a family theme park, or any tshirts with curse words, either.

amd I think most gay couples,or families gay or otherwise,, etc., don't care for obscene t- shirts either.

but you do have the occasional teen or 20 something, what ever the gender or sexual preference, trying to "make a point".

at POP centruy in early dec, there was a family by the hippy dippy pool. hanging around and about to enter the food court, bus area. mom, dad, kids, and a teen girl. the teen girl was wearing a shirt (pulled down off of one shoulder... she thought she was "lookin' fine") with a nasty swear word on it , the swear word repeated.

I couldn't believe the parents LET her wear that!!!in public, with her younger siblings. and, if I were a Cm, I would have made her turn it inside out, and I certainly hoped they would have, had she been in a park with it. but it should not have been even at a Disney resort.

but if 2 females (or 2 males) wearing red t-shirts; at a theme park, hug, or kiss? THAT's a major problem?


now, the crowds .. if there is an event.. that is something I would like to know about ahead of time....

I have a family member with the same attitude. Boy karma was a real nasty lady on him. Finally his devoted first born daughter turned out to be gay.

We had a blast at her wedding and yes in my country gay people can get a real marriage with the same rights a stray couple has.

 

[Leajess99]

How big a deal is this and how much does it affect the crowds? We were thinking first of june but just realized this falls on "gay days"....trying to figure something out thats not going to be too outrageously crowded. I know the end of school crowds are a given.

THANKS!!!!

We were there last year with this and never had any issues. The crowds weren't really all that bad and we made sure to look at their website to see when they would be in what park and avoided that park.

ETA: We avoided the parks due to crowds and nothing more. Did not want it to come off wrong. lol

 

[Leajess99]

may 31-june 6 no way no how will i bring my family to disney. very conservative .... if you can't stand it your better off not going down there at that time of year.


when did this stuff start and how does a company like disney endorse this?

It is NOT endorsed by Disney as it is a convention like many other conventions out there. Honestly, do you think your kids will never be exposed to a gay person?? How would you react if one of your kids came to you to say they are gay?? I'm sorry but from the way I read your posts on this, it seems that you have a big issue. It is all part of life and I would rather my kids be educated and understanding that everyone is different. Once upon a time the reaction to African Americans was the same and in some areas still is the same.