CAMPTalk:  Flying High Over Gay Days

This case of strange bedfellows involves the Family Policy Network, which wanted to fly a banner over the Magic Kingdom with the message: "Hope for homosexuals" and a Website address. The religious fanatics sued the federal government over its recently enacted "no fly" zone prohibiting aircraft from entering Disney’s air space. In theory, the government policy (urged by Disney brass) is an effort to protect the theme park from a possible terrorist attack.

But almost anyone who knows anything about Disney is aware that the company has been trying to prevent advertisers and other message-senders from flying banners over its parks ever since Uncle Walt first announced plans to turn a few thousand choice acres of Florida swampland into the world’s number one tourist attraction. Twenty-first century terrorism simply provided an excuse for Disney to win the government’s support, much the way the Bush administration appears to have exaggerated the "imminent threat" from biological and chemical weapons to drum up support for its desire to make war in Iraq.

Still, it was a surprise to many folks in Central Florida when leaders of Gay Days reacted to the Family Network’s suit.

Let ’em fly their message, announced Gay Days organizer Chris Alexander-Manley, a founding organizer of the weeklong festivities. "We want to fly our own banner, and so do several other gay organizations. We oppose the no-fly zone, too."

A court ruled in favor of keeping the flight ban in place despite the unlikelihood that any real terrorists would pay it much heed. But the only sore losers were the air-banner companies who lost business from both the gay and anti-gay groups. The most significant thing about the entire brouhaha is that no one in the gay community spoke out against the fundamentalist rhetoric. There was truly an attitude of live and let live; we all have a right to express ourselves. The mighty throngs of gay men and lesbians who now descend on the Orlando area for Gay Days have achieved a sufficient level of self-esteem and confidence that some silly little message of opposition in the sky above Cinderella’s castle isn’t going to spoil their fun.

In fact, the clout of Gay Days has everyone in Orlando flying high this year, plane messages or no. For the first time, the city’s mayor appeared at a major Gay Days event, kicking off an opening night fundraising party at the Orlando Museum of Art. While his predecessor, Glenda Hood, was willing only to provide a vague letter of welcome for the Gay Days program book, new mayor Buddy Dyer not only spoke at the party (attended by nearly 1,000 people) but also mixed with the gay crowd, whose votes had been influential in his election earlier this year.

Openly gay City Council member Patti Sheehan remembers the time less than a decade ago when you couldn’t find an elected official who would even mention the name Gay Days. And she recalls the firestorm of controversy that erupted a few years ago when local gay people asked to be allowed to put up rainbow flags on city poles for a pride celebration. But times have changed, and six months ago the council even (finally) voted to add sexual orientation to its job and housing protections.

For its part, Disney (which has been an equal opportunity employer for several years) now openly embraces its gay visitors, who come not only for the theme parks but also for numerous lavishly staged circuit dances and big-name concerts by the likes of Cyndi Lauper. At a traditionally slow time of year in Florida, the Gay Days crowd brings tens of millions of dollars through local turnstiles, and that makes the accountants at Disney a little goofy with glee.

So much so that this year Disney brass actually helped two gay writers with a campy, tongue-in-cheek guide book, Queens in the Kingdom The Ultimate Gay and Lesbian Guide to the Disney Theme Parks. Writers Jeffrey Epstein and Eddie Shapiro provide tips for "pink-triangulating" oneself through the parks, as a reporter for The Orlando Sentinel phrased it. The tome includes such all-important information as places to share a gay moment (the

Haunted Mansion was deemed best), where to see a Br’er Bear’s behind (Splash Mountain) and the fact that women play the roles of many of the cartoon characters. That means that when you see Mickey and Minnie smooching, it’s likely to be two females.

It may seem like a small thing, but the fact that Disney provided a team of proofreaders for the project is remarkable for a corporation that always has been so cautious about its wholesome "family" image. According to the book’s authors, the Disney people did nothing to try to change their content, but provided valuable assistance in making sure that names were spelled right and the term FAST PASS was always capitalized.

Taken individually, the changes in attitude Gay Days has seen may seem to be wee ones. But collectively, their significance had spirits soaring during this month’s lucky 13th bash.