Posted on 06/05/2003 8:20:07 AM PDT by Colofornian
Mayor welcomes Gay Days visitors
By Melissa Harris | Sentinel Staff Writer Posted June 4, 2003
Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer kicked off the annual Gay Days celebration Tuesday night in a historic and symbolic step toward ending years of bitterness between City Hall and the gay community.
"It's wonderful to finally have a mayor accept us in public as well as in private," said Marty Chapman, 48, an Orlando attorney who served on a grass-roots committee that proposed the ordinance.
Dyer told more than 700 people at the Orlando Museum of Art that he was proud the city was one of only eight in Florida to prohibit discrimination against gays.
"I'm the first mayor to attend this event, and I promise this won't be my last," Dyer told the cheering crowd.
Ever since Gay Days began with a gathering at Walt Disney World in 1991, the event has sparked ire from many conservative and religious groups.
Gay Days, for which visitors travel to Central Florida to enjoy its many tourist attractions, still creates a stir among those who argue the event sanctions an immoral lifestyle.
"This is not a pride or political event," said Chris Alexander-Manley, of Gay Days Inc., which is expecting the largest crowd in the event's history. "It's a nice tourist event and is a boost to the economy."
Melissa Harris can be reached at mharris@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-6269.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
It is difficult for the teachers to attend while school is in session. They are in class, teaching indoctrinating recruiting their students.
Hope not! That would put him in a vulnerable position...
THAT was my FIRST thought. I prefer to remember Disney from the 50's and not patronize anything Disney in this "modern" age. Besides, what the F* are they CELEBRATING anyway? Is there a BLACK days at DISNEY?....HISPANIC DAYS at DISNEY? CAUCASIAN DAYS at DISNEY? Are they celebrating AIDS? This makes me sick.
According to a June 8, 1994 "Family News in Focus" segment, one vacationer present at Disney's Gay Days noticed "official/unofficial" greeters on hand to welcome homosexual customers. They had handouts. Would Disney provide greeters for other groups with diverse sexual orientations (multiple partners' groups)?
Also, a few years ago some guy named Mawyer went to Gay Days & video-taped Disney cast members simulating homosexual erotic dancing, groping, oral and anal sex and then sent censored still photos out of this to his readers. I'm not sure he still has those photos on his web site or not (www.christianaction.org).
So there you have it. Disney has domestic partnership benefits for employees; a homosexual employees group it sanctions; diversity training (re-ed session for heterosexuals); non-discrimination policies that include "sexual orientation" (whatever that means; corporations leave it undefined in those policies).
So if Disney is not squeamish about promoting homosexuality within the company, it certainly has no qualms introducing it to children and teens in some of their dance areas each June.
This philosophy works better in some neck of the woods than others. For example if Lot had tried out this philosophy for size and season, it wouldn't have worked too well: "and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)..." (2 Peter 2:7-8)
Obviously, the Internet, films, TV, and our culture in general has callously desensitized most of us so that it's tough to distress or torment whatever vestige of righteousness remains.
Live and let live? If folks are spiritually dead, then our motto could instead be, "Revive and let them live forever." Simply put, we tend not to value them as God does.
I don't know about that. Some gays (at least) seem to take great pride in public groping and/or 'intercourse'. And for the gay activists, EVERYTHING is a political event.
Why, their gayness of course. They want all of us to celebrate it with them.
Not me! I got better things to do.
Did he bend over, grab his ankles, and give them an "all-access pass"?
Just thought the correction had to be made for clarification and honesty.....
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.