Gay Days No Longer Worry Disney World

Gay Days used to make Walt Disney World officials nervous.

One year, Disney posted signs at the entrance informing guests that there was a gathering of homosexuals in the Magic Kingdom. In other years, passes to other Disney parks were offered to guests who might be offended by large numbers of gays.

This weekend, as Gay Days enters its 10th year, Disney is no longer in the closet about the annual celebration.

The event has expanded to the company’s three other parks, as well as non-Disney ones such as Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando. Gay Days even spawned a West Coast version of itself at Disneyland in Anaheim.

“I don’t know if it’s a more accepting attitude, but our parks are open to everyone, every day,” said Rena Callahan, a Disney spokeswoman. “We want to be hospitable to everyone who visits our parks.”

No religious groups plan to protest this year’s event, unlike in past years. However, members of the Christian Action Network plan to videotape what goes on at Pleasure Island during Gay Days and show it at the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia.

“We’re looking for bad behavior among the homosexuals in the area where kids are going to show up,” said Martin Mawyer, president of the Lynchburg, Va.-based group.

While Disney doesn’t sponsor Gay Days, which includes several events planned under no single organizer, the theme park is the center of its activities.

“During the first couple of years, their greatest fear was what other guests would think,” said Tom Dyer, editor and publisher of Watermark, a gay newspaper in Orlando. “Their view has shifted to caring about how their gay and lesbian guests are treated.”

What began as a gathering of several hundred people in 1991 has grown into a four-day weekend that attracts more than 100,000.