Why Disney World Hosts Gay Day Each Year....the answer may surprise you.

So I promised another post about June 4th Gay Day at Disney World parks. It’s now June 7th and the topic of their alternative lifestyle outreach isn’t getting any fresher. So, here goes....

The first thing I’ll say is that if Disney wants to continue broadcasting June 4th as Gay Day, they might want to hire a new PR agency, one that utilizes marketing channels other than skywriting. Maybe buy some 30 second TV and radio spots or post people wearing rainbow flags, holding Gay Day signs throughout the Orlando area. It seems the word just didn’t get out.

On June 4th, the majority of people visiting Disney’s Typhoon Lagoon water park were average American, blue collar, country music loving families of 4.5 from some Heartland state like North Dakota or Kansas (where homosexuality is still illegal along with women’s suffrage and parking your mule in front of laundromats on Sundays.) Also, my random poll, selecting every fifth person and asking if they were gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender seemed only to alarm and offend people, especially parents of the toddlers I asked.

Now, I know what you’re thinking. “Does this inane, half-witted blogger really think you can identify gays simply by looking at them? Like they’re Hasidic Jews or a case of measles?”

An excellent point, you have, young Jedi. I realize that I’m treading dangerously close to offending a good 99-percent of those who are easily offended. So, I won’t belabor the point.

However, our drive to the theme park produced a thought provoking conversation that would be nipped in the bud at most California public schools. “Mom and Dad, why does Disney set aside a whole day to welcome gay people? Do they also host a day for Buddhists or Vikings, or Buddhist Vikings?” asked 10-year-old Andrew.

“What about a day for people who produce too much earwax?” chimed in Jack, a recent sufferer of the earwax malady.

“What about a day for agoraphobics obsessed with the color turquoise?” said hubby James, in an acidic tone.

As you can predict, our discussion quickly turned into a game of creative one-upping. “I know, I know,” shouted Andrew, “Has Disney ever had a ‘people afraid of spiders’ day…or a bald people day…or a lactose intolerant day?” It went on like that until we arrived at Typhoon Lagoon.

So, now three days later, I’m still pondering why the Disney corporation chooses June 4th to specifically invite gays to their parks… when they're ALREADY welcome ANY DAY. I mean it’s not like that on every day other than June 4th, Disney promotes persecution of homosexuals with public stoning, But on that one summer day they’re given a 12-hour reprieve.

Having done a little research thanks to our friend Google, I now have the answer…or an answer.

Vince says:
June 6, 2011 at 6:03 pm
To be fair … (since my wife works at Disney) … Disney does not organize or advocate these types of events. It’s organized by the gay groups themselves, better organized over the years from the small incidental turnouts they began with. Disney cannot come out and say they disapprove of such a thing or face an incredible backlash. So they shrug and let it be. The same goes for “Bat Day” at Disneyland, where throngs of Goth followers show up all dressed in black, etc.. The line of regular guests waiting to complain at the Guest Services window at Disneyland stretched out onto the circle in front of the Railroad Station. Again, Disney shrugs to avoid the controversy.

So, it seems that Disney Corporate has some “ostrich-head-in-the-sand” tendencies. Wow, I think I’d have more respect for them if Gay Day actually were a sanctioned event, not one they just allow because they’re afraid to say the wrong thing, and thus remain silent. Really, Disney?? I think you could use some assertiveness training.

If I were more controversial and less lazy, perhaps I’d continue this blog post, expounding on the ludicrous pile-of-feces that political correctness has gotten us into. But a mid-afternoon swim seems like a better use of my time.

So, until later….