[This article clears up a lot of misconceptions some people have about
the "Gay Day" event (not sponsored by Disney, by the way).  This is part
one of two, split so that folks who can't receive large files will be
able to read all of the article.  Note that I am not endorsing "Gay Day"
by posting this.  I am presenting this to present factual information to
stop the posting here of wrong information by certain individuals.]
-Rich Koster             Moderator, FidoNet Disney Echo   ()_()
            ()_()  ()~()     FDC Mickey     Mickey on EntertainMuck    (_)
  Moderator, FANtasEARS Disney Fan Club on CalWeb.com 
          Published in The Orlando Sentinel, Monday, June 2, 1997
Gay Day is back and bigger than ever
   By Christine Shenot
   of The Sentinel Staff
   The guest list includes Gilligan, Ginger and Mary Ann. There will be
   ''fashion police'' patrolling the beach and floating ''Hollywood
   divas'' dressed in drag as Bette Midler, Liza Minnelli and Annette
   Funicello.
   Not your typical crowd for a party at Walt Disney World. But the scene
   in Central Florida's tourism corridor this weekend will be anything
   but business as usual as the seventh annual Gay and Lesbian Day event
   gets under way.
   This year's event is expected to draw more people than ever, with
   bars, bus companies and other businesses all hoping to ride the tide.
   There's the after-hours ''Beach Ball'' party at Disney's Typhoon
   Lagoon water park on Friday, featuring campy parodies of the
   Gilligan's Island cast, dancing and themed areas such as Muscle Beach.
   The party is sponsored by Watermark, a local gay newspaper that rented
   the park for the night after it closes to the public.
   Disney-MGM Studios also has been booked Saturday night for a private
   party organized by Jeffrey Sanker, a Los Angeles-based producer of gay
   and lesbian events around the country.
   A dozen or so smaller parties, including a Latin fest and a mini-Mardi
   Gras, will be held at Central Florida nightclubs Thursday through
   Sunday. The Dr. Phillips Center for Performing Arts, home to the
   Orlando Opera, will be transformed with a dance party sponsored by
   Salvation, a popular nightclub in Miami's South Beach district.
   This year, Universal Studios' travel company developed travel packages
   for the event, with tickets to Universal, Sea World and Church Street
   Station.
   Gay Day, in other words, has become gay days, growing well beyond its
   origins in 1991 as an afternoon at the Magic Kingdom for local gays
   and lesbians. And though area attractions have yet to get involved
   with direct sponsorship of the controversial event, they've begun to
   recognize it as a lucrative business opportunity.
   ''We are the tourism capital of the world, and this event has grown to
   (worldwide) proportions,'' said Keith Peterson, director of operations
   at Watermark. He added that visitors from as far away as London and
   Vancouver have bought tickets to ''Beach Ball.''
   The multiday event has had its own Web site for the past two years,
   and organizers say this year the festivities have gotten a lot of
   national publicity because of the involvement of Sanker and other big
   names in gay entertainment.
   Some expect as many as 80,000 gays and lesbians to visit theme parks
   and nightclubs this week, an ambitious forecast that would rival Key
   West's Fantasy Fest. Organizers of that widely attended gay event say
   it generates about $13 million in spending every year -- an indication
   of Gay Day's potential impact on Orlando's tourism industry.
   With the event's growth, however, criticism -- aimed at Disney in
   particular -- by religious and pro-family groups continues to
   increase.
[Continued in part two.  This article is © 1997 Orlando Sentinel Online.]
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