Mind if I ask a question?

[vjgkam]

Let me preface this by letting you know that I'm a straight male with a gay son. I love him and his partner equally as much as I love another son and his wife.

My wife and two of our younger children went to Disney and were there on Gay Days (Saturday at the Magic Kingdom and Sunday at Epcot). Both days were great, and 99.9% of the crowd were just typical tourists having fun, gay or straight.

My question is this:
Some of the messages on the red shirts that a very few gay men and women were wearing were absolutley offensive. I can honestly say that I've never seen such things printed on shirts in public - ever. Why the need to draw attention, especially knowing full well there would be children there as well?

I had to answer some tough questions from my 10 year old daughter.

In total I'd say I saw 10-12 shirts that I was shocked were allowed in, so it was a very very smal percentage, but offensive nonetheless.

I just don't understand the need for attention, which is all I can attribute it to.

 

[ConcKahuna]

Not defending it, because I think it's wrong no matter who does it, but you see those kinds of shirts every day at the parks, on straight people or gay.

It's just a lack of tact when people visit the parks.

 

[rosiep]

I have a question for you: If you only saw 10-12 offensive shirts out of the sea of hundreds that were there...why focus on the negative?

 

[wdwpins]

As a gay man who has been to gay days in both 2007 and 2008, I have been struggling with this as well.

When a gay man or lesbian suggests to another to wear a red shirt, he or she isn't telling the entire truth--that shirt, it seems, has to have some cutesy, quippy, shocking and/or double entendre expression on it. My suspicion is that a plain red shirt, over the years, has lost its shock value, and now many gays have to resort to putting expressions on those red shirts to bring the shock value back up to prior levels. I think, as you believe, that there is some element of attention seeking as well when such shirts are worn.

In 2008 I walked past a lesbian in the MK whose shirt said, "No muff too tough." My only regret is that I didn't call her out on it right then and there, and then promptly report her to Disney staff. Gays have always been welcome at Disney--I never felt as if I was treated in a different way there because I'm gay--but that expression was crude, offensive, and entirely inappropriate for such a venue. Why should any parent, especially at Disney, have to explain such a thing?

One gay man had a shirt that read: "There's a party in my pants. Want to XXXX?" I saw other expressions that really are not fit to be repeated here, which, of course, were also inappropriate for any Disney park.

I'm surprised you saw only 10-12 shirts with vulgar expressions; the numbers must be dwindling--good news indeed.

Am I against any expression on a red shirt during gay days? No. In fact, one lesbian had on her red shirt, "I pay taxes just like you." But anyone with a shirt (of any color, really) with a vulgar expression on it should be asked to change that shirt or leave the park.

 

[MrBurns]

Some people have no class.
Besides, the correct color of shirt, T or otherwise, is determined by the weather.

 

[ConcKahuna]

Some people have no class.
Besides, the correct color of shirt, T or otherwise, is determined by the weather.

The tradition since the very first Gaydays 20 years ago is for all gay people and their supporters to wear a red shirt at the Magic Kingdom on the Saturday of Gayday.

 

[jamieandben]

OK let me ask you this vjgkam with 6 posts, MrBurns with 27 posts and wdwpins with the most 129.
Why don't you go over to the Cm board and ask them Why we have to here from the str8 community " keep an eye on our son I don't want him to get near one".

 

[Sphyrna]

 

[OrlandoMike]

Just a reminder.....lets keep this a friendly discussion......

And I have to agree with ConcK, I see offensive shirts in the parks every day, its not just the gay community that has tacky members!

 

[LoriABil]

I've been at the parks and seen CMs very discreetly speak to someone wearing an offensive shirt, maybe asking them to change. Just because you saw several offensive shirts doesn't mean they weren't asked to change after you saw them.

Did you speak to a CM and tell them your concern? I think that's the proper route anytime an offensive shirt is seen.

Maybe thus is a (poor) attempt at being unique in a sea of people wearing the same color shirt. Well okay, not everyone was in red, I'm sure, but I agree with PP that it might be to ante up the shock value. Although WDW is not exactly the place for shock value, but uniqueness-well that just thrives there. Hopefully these people will find better ways of expressing themselves, gay, straight, or other.

 

[wallyb]

I like to mention the 7 year olds I've seen
in hooters tshirts with the proud dad right behind.

Family values - alive and well.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Or the seven year olds that I've seen with messages written across the bottom of their shorts.

The nastiest shirt I've ever seen at WDW was on a teen girl who looked to be 14 or so. "I got my crabs from Dirty D1cks."

If a tshirt offends you, then report it.

There were very few shirts this year with sayings at all.

The one we saw the most was "Legalize Gay."

It's always interesting how the new posters always find their way here to comment on the distressing events they had to negotiate while at WDW on that first Saturday in June.

 

[starann]

The nastiest shirt I've ever seen at WDW was on a teen girl who looked to be 14 or so. "I got my crabs from Dirty D1cks."


It's always interesting how the new posters always find their way here to comment on the distressing events they had to negotiate while at WDW on that first Saturday in June.

Fessing up that my DH has the Dirty D shirt from our stay in OBX (it's a place to eat down there which gives the kids frisbees to take home with kids meals, but the frisbee says "DD Crab House" thankfully! ) However my DH is a grown man and wears it as a sleep shirt....after all there is a time and place for everything.

 

[PghLybrt]

I think you all answered this well because all I want to do right now is scream and bang my head against the wall.

 

[ConcKahuna]

Fessing up that my DH has the Dirty D shirt from our stay in OBX (it's a place to eat down there which gives the kids frisbees to take home with kids meals, but the frisbee says "DD Crab House" thankfully! ) However my DH is a grown man and wears it as a sleep shirt....after all there is a time and place for everything.

Down here its' "My Waitress Gave me Crabs" from Joe's Crab Shack.

 

[DVC~OKW~96]

Regardless of where those sorts of shirts are from, they are loaded with innuendo, and not of the sort I need to see at WDW, or anywhere in public.

I also don't need to see two 20 somethings joined together by a chain that goes from her neck to his wrist. That wasn't on Gay days, and WAS in the MK.

What we are trying to point out is there are attention seekers in every group. If you don't get why a gay person would be an attention seeker, then please include the fact that you don't get why ANYONE would be one.

I wore "marriage is so gay." That is attention seeking in its own right, political too. It didn't garner positive responses from everyone.

When your civil liberties are a matter of vote perhaps you'll wear a politically motivated tshirt too.

 

[NHdisneylover]

I have never been lucky enough to manage to be down for Gay Days, but I agree with others that you see offensive shirts pretty much every day in the parks--usually on (presumably) straight people. I think it IS possible that with the emphasis on special shirts for Gay Days that the percentage of such shirts might go up some on those days. However, overall I think they are still not much of a big deal.

I don't care for the innuendo and would not dress myself or my kids in it, but I don't may attention to it on others. I figure my kids either don't get it and therefore don't care (DS still thinks the Joe's Crab Shack shirts are about seafood--DD technically has the knowledge now to know differently but I doubt she will notice and put it together, and if she does and mentions it I will just tell her I think it is tacky) OR get it and then they know the score anyway and we can just say it is tacky, or offensive or whatever--I am always okay with a good conversation starter.
More annoying are the flat out obscene (bad words, pictures of cartoon characters in various sexual positions, etc)--but those are also easier (I think) for staff to get rid of as there is no interpreting going on. I have seen a handful of such shirts at WDW (and many more at Six Flags) but never on a person that gave any indication of being homosexual. Even these shirts are unlikely to be noticed by my kids who tend to be busy noticing Disneyworld when we are there--but if they notice it goes right back to discussing why we think it is inappropriate and moving on.

I would rather see any of the shirts mentioned on this thread (and the dog collar and chain combo--noticed it twice at WDW) than listen to a parent screaming insults and threats at their child (which happens all too often at the world).

 

[hematite153]

I like to mention the 7 year olds I've seen
in hooters tshirts with the proud dad right behind.

Family values - alive and well.

Yep, and I've seen families with matching shirts (including on two year olds) spewing hate.

Bad shirts happen all the time everywhere I turn. I choose to think about such things as teachable moments (which pedagogical research says are the best times to learn) rather than problems.

 

[OrlandoMike]

I would rather see any of the shirts mentioned on this thread .... than listen to a parent screaming insults and threats at their child....

Can I get an amen!

 

[HelenParr]

Amen!

OP: The displays and attention seeking are not related to sexual orientation. Unfortunate that OP sees a correlation.

We are at WDW often, but never made it down for GayDays. In the average week long trip, I'm sure I've seen at least 10-12 offensive shirts or displays or clothing choice. But similar to stuff you'd see on the street in anycity USA.

We don't have kids, and I'm not easily shocked. So mostly its a head shake or conversation piece depending on how outlandish it was. Disney is awesome, magical and unique, but some of the real world exists right there. To expect otherwise is probably asking too much.

I think Disney does a pretty fair job at addressing it to the extent they can.