Disneyland Loosens Dance Policy

Disneyland administrators have quietly reversed a 28-year-old policy that prohibited partners of the same sex from dancing together in the Magic Kingdom.

The prohibition against same-sex dancing was dropped in mid-July in response to requests from patrons of Videopolis, a teen dance club that opened June 22 next to the family ride, “A Small World.”

“We try to be responsive to feedback we get from our guests,” Disneyland spokesman Al Flores said. “Videopolis brings in a lot of teen-age kids, and we see a lot of situations where two girls come together and want to dance and ask to. We have always said no, but we changed our minds.”

Flores said the change was not in response to a May, 1984, Orange County Superior Court ruling in favor of a gay couple who had been evicted from the Anaheim park four years earlier after they danced together. Disneyland has maintained that the ruling applied only to Andrew R. Exler and Shawn Elliot, the plaintiffs in the case.

“We continued to enforce the (same-sex) policy until about a month ago,” Flores said. He added that an appeal of the ruling is still pending despite the new policy but declined further comment.

The ban on same-sex dancers was part of the original regulations adopted by the park in 1957, when it first allowed dancing.

Flores said the prohibition was adopted “as a crowd control measure,” to ensure the safety of women on the dance floor and because some patrons might find partners of the same sex offensive.

“We always try to avoid every kind of situation that would cause a disturbance,” Flores said. “We don’t serve alcohol. We enforce a dress code. It’s the reason most of our policies were created: to maintain a peaceful, happy atmosphere that won’t offend any of our guests.”

At the time of the 1984 decision, William M. Bitting, Disneyland’s trial lawyer, said, “We’ll abide by the order, but it doesn’t apply to others. If two (other) men show up tomorrow night to dance, Disneyland won’t let them on the dance floor.”

Commenting on the new policy Tuesday, Exler said, “I think it’s fantastic . . . but I’m extremely surprised.

“I think the decision was definitely made in response to our winning our lawsuit,” he added. “That and the international attention this case has received definitely had an impact on their decision.”

“The decision is years late, but let’s applaud it,” said Morris Kight, a leading Los Angeles gay rights activist. “It’s a gentle victory, one that shows Disneyland is finally paying attention to the world around them.”

The change in policy was definitely noticeable at Videopolis last Saturday night, as several thousand teen-agers gyrated under flashing, multicolored spotlights to the Top 40 sounds of the Disneyland house band, Donna McDaniel & Network.

Although most couples were male-female, there were some men or women dancing together.

Dominique Hitchcock, a 15-year-old sophomore at Brea Olinda High School, and four other female friends had come to Videopolis together. Dominique, who spent most of the night dancing with her girlfriends, was unaware of Disneyland’s old rule.

“It’s just as fun to dance with your friends as it is with a guy,” she said. “We go dancing together a lot. There’s nothing wrong with it.”