'Everyone every day' welcome (gay days at Disneyland)

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Monday, October 3, 2005

'Everyone every day' welcome

About 30,000 gays and lesbians flock to Disney venues to celebrate the eighth annual Gay Days event.

By SARAH TULLY
The Orange County Register

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Up to 30,000 gays and lesbians swarmed into Walt Disney Co.'s local venues this weekend for the eighth annual Gay Days, an unofficial event that includes three days of theme-park trips, film screenings, talks and parties.

Eighties pop princess Tiffany performed at Downtown Disney and stars, such as Peter Paige of the Showtime show, "Queer as Folk," made appearances.

The Gay Days participants, often donning red shirts, rode roller coasters and strolled Main Street alongside the traditional family park-goers. Throughout Disney's California Adventure on Sunday, same-sex couples pushing strollers and men or women swinging hands with partners were about as common as heterosexual couples doing the same.

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Since its debut in 1998 with about 2,500 attendees, founder Jeffrey Epstein said the event has stayed true to its original goal: creating a day where gays and lesbians can come together without fear of stares or insults. While conservative groups have called for boycotts of Disney because of Gay Days and other policies, there were no protests over the weekend, which is par for the course for this normally tame event.

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http://www.ocregister.com/ocregister/news/local/article_699156.php