Posted on 06/02/2006 5:22:11 AM PDT by Tank-FL
There's plenty of advertising in this year's official Gay Days program.
But other than Virgin Megastore and Orlando Premium Outlets, no local tourism interests -- theme parks, restaurants or I-Drive businesses -- bought space.
Ditto for the Gay Days Expo.
Walking among the 75 booths on Thursday, I found several for tourism groups, including the state's Visit Florida and convention bureaus in Sarasota, Clearwater/St. Petersburg and Miami.
But the Orlando/Orange County Convention & Visitors Bureau? No presence at all.
"I think they're losing out," said Chris Alexander-Manley, one of the Gay Days organizers.
I think businesses aren't there because they don't need to be.
Observers, gay and straight, agree that Central Florida has come a long way since the first Gay Days 16 years ago. But many in tourism still don't openly embrace the event -- though they are happy to benefit from the crush of people in town.
Is that hypocritical? Absolutely.
The world would surely be a better, more tolerant place if big companies openly courted gays and lesbians, using their corporate clout to change public opinion.
But businesses aren't going to dive into controversy unnecessarily. For now, many of Orlando's tourism interests don't endorse Gay Days because, even without their support, it has grown into a major success -- and currently shows no signs of leaving.
Gay Days has blossomed from a couple thousand participants to 140,000 people -- almost half again as big as the International Home Builders, the largest convention held in Orlando.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
Chris Alexander-Manley .. Mr. Manely -- ROTF LMAO
The Festival That Came to Dinner.
I think I just barfed up my breakfast from yesterday...
Why did they schedule it on June 6. Southern kids usually get out of school in late May and this time of year is a good time for these families to go to Disney. It is early summer so not as hot, and Northeastern schools are still in session so it is not as crowded. Why would they pick Orlando in JUNE, unless they wanted to run into red state families with kids. Single adults who are not tied to a school calendar can go any time of year they want.
Nope, no agenda there...
My thought exactly. They're not welcoming enough, according to these activists?????
Thus, obviously, according to political correctness, they must then be homophobic if they aren't out there with a red carpet for the gay visitors.
They're not wanting to celebrate diversity. If you don't celebrate diversity, by definition you are homophobic, according to their thought process.
Sheesh..............
What business would support a "Heterosexual Days?" What do these people want from us?
Oh there's plenty of opinion changing happened over the last 25 years...
I used to feel neutral about "gayness". Now I can't stand the suckers!
"But the time might also come when gays and lesbians -- a $50 billion-a-year travel market -- decide to look at other communities for their big event. Should that happen, it will be interesting to see how Orlando businesses respond -- and whether their now-quiet support comes out of the closet."
They can always support one of the other disordered behaviors for the almighty dollar[sarcasm]...porn...abortion...still doesn't make it right!
Perhaps the entities are waiting for pedophile days, or incest days; events that might better build the business.
What do they want? They want to control the world and have everything "their way".
One of the things they want is to shut us up entirely with no rights religious expression, freedom of speech, or freedom of association. For starters.
And they want our kids in thrall to their agenda.
complete degradation...
Isn't it nice that the gay community targets an amusement park designed specifically for children and families? (sarc)
As to why corporations aren't "supporting" them as much as the gay community would like, why should they? Why support 1-3% of the population and risk turning off the remaining 98%? Most consumers aren't gay. Those are the facts. Given the percentages, the gay community is actually overly represented in advertising, due to their well organized tactics and the fact that NY ad agencies and other creative mediums hire a higher than average percentage of the gay community.
The world would surely be a better, more tolerant place if big companies openly courted gays and lesbians,
And there would be a big stinkn if they openly courted straights. What a crock of crap.
Not to mention that the majority of gay people prefer to go on vacations whenever it's convenient for them, rather than be told what dates to go where for the gay-ghetto days.
Actually the reason for the overrepresentation is that they have a lot more disposable income per person than the average American, due to a combination of higher average education level and fewer children to support. Advertisers target people who can be persuaded to buy their products/services, not just random numbers of people. No point spending money to persuade people that they want your product/service, if they can't afford to buy it.
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