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“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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