For 11 years,
gays and lesbians wearing red shirts have descended on
Disneyland for Gay Days, an event that forces mainstream
Americans to deal with us face to face. And while
just-married same-sex couples urging park
visitors to vote no on Prop. 8 put a positive political face
on the weekend's festivities, the event too often showed the
gay community at its worst: drunk, sometimes naked,
and acting completely inappropriate for the families
looking on.
“Don’t talk to him, don’t even look at
him,” a stocky, bearded gentleman tugging at
the arm of a curious 3-year-old said softly to our group of
five while waiting in line to ride Alice in Wonderland.
“You guys are an abomination.”
The two groups
flung arguments back and forth: “Judge not lest ye be
judged,” followed by talk of “securing a place
in the kingdom of heaven.” Suddenly a woman,
visiting the park with her daughter, interjected,
asking the gentleman to move along, making clear she was
appalled by his hateful rhetoric.
And thus paints
the picture of another Gay Days at Disneyland, the
11th annual gathering of gays, lesbians, and
their supporters from all over the United States, descending
on Anaheim for the two-day event. Dressed in
gay-identified bright red T-shirts and mixing among
the already diverse Disneyland crowd, cultures collided and
ideas converged in what is arguably one of the best
opportunities all year to show mainstream Americans
what this equal-rights hubbub is all about.
The event, while
not officially sanctioned by Disney -- Gay Days started
after a Disney-hosted gay night was canceled in 1998 --
nevertheless attracted some 25,000 participants in
2007. It’s even the subject of a book -- Gay
Days aficionados Jeffrey Epstein and Eddie Shapiro immersed
themselves in Disney culture to pen Queens in the
Kingdom in 2007.
Though Gay Days
certainly paints an image of a united gay community --
particularly given the upcoming election, Obama-Biden and
"No on Prop. 8" stickers were nearly as prevalent as
the red T-shirts they adorned -- the event
has always met with a fair amount of criticism.
This year Disney
meal ticket Hannah Montana -- a.k.a. Miley Cyrus --
kicked the gays and other guests to the curb for her
16th birthday party on Sunday, forcing the park
to shut down a full five hours early. But that was a minor
inconvenience compared to the slew of park patrons who
just happened to book their trips on the same weekend
as Gay Days -- some of them none too happy about the
coincidence.
There are the
straight men and women, unaffiliated with Gay Days, who
appeared to be rethinking the red Mickey T-shirts they
slipped into that morning, now finding
themselves dressed in the same color as half the
park's patrons, most of whom were walking arm in arm with
someone of the same sex. Then there was the Mark Twain
riverboat singles cruise that a few dozen straight
folks seemed to unassumingly stumble onto, plus the
Downtown Disney bars spilling over with the West Hollywood
contingent. Yes, Disneyland definitely has a different
vibe during Gay Days.
And there are
moments when that vibe has the potential to do great
things. A happy gay couple who had just tied the knot
celebrated at a restaurant at California Adventure, a
carnival-themed park affiliated with Disneyland.
The half dozen straight couples who looked on wished
them well, a few stopping by to ask questions about
California’s Proposition 8, which, if passed,
would make same-sex marriage illegal in the state.
They took photos, ate cake, people dining at nearby tables
toasted them, and a woman even congratulated the flower
girl, the 6-year-old the couple had adopted together.
Those who took
issue with the onslaught of gay park visitors seemed
relatively few and quiet about it -- for the time being.
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