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What
IS Orlando Gay Days?
Orlando
Florida’s Gay Days Celebration is not a single event. It is
a total gay and lesbian vacation experience. Gay Days is comprised
of multiple events staged at world famous attractions, gay &
lesbian clubs, and unique venues secured for the purpose of creating
a gay and lesbian atmosphere at Orlando's greatest theme parks and
at multiple parties occurring during this long weekend. We have
young, old, all races and beliefs, parents, gay AA groups, and every
other section of our community attending Gay Days each year.
Gay
Days began in 1991 as a single designated day (always the first
Saturday in June) when the LesBiGay community and friends were encouraged
to "Wear Red and Be Seen" while visiting the world’s
most popular theme park. From it’s beginnings (spearheaded
by the GLBT Community
Center, local activists, businesses, and the online friends and
users of Compu-Who) with 3,000 attendees, this one-day park visit
has evolved into a week long, citywide celebration offering round
the clock activities including multiple theme park visits, cocktail
soirees, concerts, and a host of internationally renowned parties.
Gay Days attracts over 135,000 celebrants from across the nation
and around the globe!
We
at GayDayS.com are proud to be your host and a driving force behind
the success and growth of Gay Days. With a click of the mouse you
can plan your entire Gay Days itinerary, including and on-line ticket
ordering and hotel reservations. We are proud to be the only web
site officially sanctioned by the Gay,
Lesbian, and Bisexual Community Center of Orlando (GLBCC)
- the birthplace of this multifaceted event.
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Gay
Days: Survivor
From
the 2002 Gay Days Program
Since
its inception in 1991, Gay Days has survived both criticism
and indifference and has emerged as not just a survivor,
but a winner. It's been attacked by the American Family
Association, it's been besieged by undercover photographers
attempting to covertly capture images of sexual misconduct
in one of the favorite family playground, it's endured
the dire prophecies of Pat Robertson, and it has suffered
the indignity of signs at Disney entrances "warning" others
of the presence of large numbers of gay and lesbian visitors.
And for many years, it was pretty much ignored by the press
and Orlando's hotel/motel industry. |
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Today, most of the controversy and apathy have
disappeared. The protesters and the warning signs at the Magic
Kingdom entrance have been replaced by smiling cast members
welcoming Gay Days visitors with unscheduled entertainment at
the Castle Forecourt, expanded park operating hours, and a fireworks
display usually reserved for the peak summer season and holidays.
Hotels and motels all over Orlando are signing the "Gay Days
Friendly Pledge" and requests for interviews center around economic
impact and entertainment value rather than conflict and comets
from hell.
When
1 Gay Day became Gay Days
One sign of the event's refusal to die has been
its relentless expansion. What began as a single-day visit
to the Magic Kingdom has expanded to a weeklong vacation
celebration attracting more than 135,000 Gay Days revelers
to more than 40 citywide events. Attendees from across the
nation and around the globe will infuse an estimated $100
million-plus dollars into the local economy. Year after year,
old events continue and new events and new life is added
to this annual event. Local business and club owners add
to the excitement with special nights and expanded entertainment
options aimed at Gay Days attendees. But the growth of the
phenomenonal event was gangly and chaotic, with no central
hub of activity, no Gay Days information center, and most
regretably, no central agency to help visitors acquire tickets
for the myriad of events. Gay Days was gaining popularity,
but it was getting more and more difficult to plan for.
Web-Based
Company Nets Gay Days Unity & Acceptance
When GayDayS.com launched in April of 1998, not
only did Orlando's Gay Days gain an impressive state of-
the-art marketing tool, it acquired the first ever year-round
staff of professionals dedicated to establishing Gay Days
as a fully recognized and respected addition to the Central
Florida tourism and cultural calendar. In 1999, GayDayS.com/Gay
Days, Inc., was added (albeit with some hesitation by the
OCCVB) to the membership roster of the Orlando/Orange County
Convention and Visitors Bureau. Now GayDayS.com is a member
of VISIT FLORIDA, the state tourism agency. They are actively
working to bring more GLBT tourism to Florida throughout
the year. GayDayS.com is also a member of the International
Gay and Lesbian Travel Association (IGLTA), the Metropolitan
Business Association and is a registered seller of travel
in the state of Florida.
Gay
Days Wins - - Detractors Retreat
In the end, persistence, tolerance, and economics
won out. The espionage efforts have proven expensive and
ineffectual. The Southern Baptist boycott has been pretty
much a failure, and Pat Robertson's dire warnings of hell
and brimstone have failed to set the city on fire. Now,
hotels are rushing to become a Gay Days Co-Host Hotel property,
national businesses like Bud Light & Esurance are sponsors,
national media attend and highlight the major economic benefits,
and the Mayor of Orlando and the Mayor of the Board of
County Commissioners have offered Gay Days visitors a hearty
welcome and have even attended Gay Days events. This Year,
it only gets better!
Many
people have contributed to the incredible success and unprecedented
growth of this wonderful vacation opportunity. Without every
one of them, this phenomenon we call Gay Days just wouldn't
be the same.
But
the real success of Gay Days is attributable to you, the Gay
Days attendee. Whether you attend every party listed in the
Official GayDayS magazine, or just lounge around the Host
Hotel pools enjoying the atmosphere, count yourself among
those who contribute to the success and growth of an event
that's all about being you. Put on a red t-shirt, head out
into the Florida sunshine and have a gay old time! |
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