This past weekend I visited Disney in Orlando with a couple of friends. We were supposed to go a few months ago, but due to a variety of circumstances, we had to postpone until the summer. The morning of our trip, I found out we rescheduled to a day that hosted an event known as Disney Gay Days. I had never heard of this phenomenon before, so before we left for the park I googled it.
I visited gaydays.com, where I found out that Disney Gay Days is actually only a small part of the Gay Days phenomenon. The organization started in 1991 with a little over 3,000 people visiting Magic Kingdom on one day, all dressed in red t-shirts. It eventually evolved into a week-long celebration at all Disney parks, as well as local bars, restaurants, clubs, etc. Gay Days is now a nationwide phenomenon, with over 150,000 people traveling from across the nation and globe to participate. Orlando itself has recognized the event; sponsors have lined up to endorse activities, hotels are becoming hosts for groups and parties that wish to stay there and continue their celebrations, and even the Mayor has publicly endorsed and attended events. Though Disney has received recent and enduring opposition for endorsing an event that isn't "family friendly," Gay Days has continued to spread and become even more popular.
Immediately upon entering the park I noticed crowds of people in red t-shirts. I couldn't believe, upon first impact, how many people there were. I hadn't yet grasped the popularity of this event, but I was about to. I passed a wonderfully dressed gentleman that had a shirt that said 'smile if you're gay' and I couldn't help but laugh. Later in the day, I was behind someone in line wearing a shirt that said 'straight outta the closet'. There were so many people that were out and proud and I couldn't get enough.
The sociologist in me went nuts, and as soon as I realized what a huge event this was, I immediately started taking the demographics of everyone walking by. The ages were varied- with men and women anywhere from college-aged to wheelchair bound in their late seventies or eighties. To my surprise, from what I observed in our twelve-hour visit of line after line and miles of walking, a majority were male. I couldn't help but marvel at the drastic different in gender attendance. Was this just an organization that was geared towards gay men? Or was it something else?
In Sociology, we learn (or rather, it's beaten into us) that sexuality is a socially constructed concept. In my first ever Sociology class, we learned about sexuality across the globe. In Guadalajara, for example, two men engaging in a sexual act can be viewed very differently: one- the dominant- is only "doing what men do" without his masculinity being called into question, while the submissive receives stigma and is viewed as feminine and additionally is labeled homosexual. Conversely, any man in the United States that identifies as gay and is "out of the closet" is labeled homosexual. However, gay men that have more feminine characteristics are still stigmatized. If you've ever heard the phrase "flamboyantly gay", those are the guys getting most of the crap. A very recent study took a survey of self-identified gay men to find out if even gay men are rejecting more "feminine" behavior in order to preserve their masculinity. And they are!
As for women, they are experiencing something entirely different. Across the nation, college-aged women making out has become the epitome of the heterosexual male fantasy. For this reason, if you're not a "butch" lesbian (please google the phrase if you're not sure what I'm referring to), your lesbianism is far more accepted and is in some instances even encouraged.
For these reasons, I was understandably surprised to find such a large collection of men out and proud at Disney. Since the passage of the Marriage Equality Act in June of 2015 (just a year ago!!!), I like to think that the gay community has come a long way- and there is no denying that we have. Despite the stereotypes and stigmas of feminine men and masculine women, these courageous and proud men and women proved a point they've been trying to prove for decades: we are here and we are just like you. It felt, at least to me, like a reclaiming of something. For all the years when being gay was largely considered a sin, when members of the LGBT community would have been banned from proclaiming their sexuality so proudly, each year Disney Gay Days continues is the reclaiming of a year when it would have been impossible.
As badly as I wanted to interview anyone in line with me wearing a red shirt, I, unfortunately, had to abstain. I was floored and overjoyed, however, to see so many people participating in this. There is nothing better in this world than being free to be whoever you want. I so wish I had packed my red shirt.
