The Rainbow Lounge - LGBT Chit Chat

[HooperSnag]

My partner and I just came back from a Magic Kingdom trip. Saw a handful of couples with rainbow clothing paraphernalia. Made it a point to say HI to them and say how much we liked their pride colors!

 

[disneymerlady]

Hey magical humans!

I'm Abbey, I'm new to the "Disney fan club" as I visited the parks for the first time in 2021 after being a Little Mermaid fan my entire life - to say it was a life changing experience would be an understatement!

Now, I'm planning my first solo trip to the parks and looking at homes in the area so I can be an AP. WDW is truly the most magical place - it really allows me to feel like I'm living my best life and inspires hope and magic in my "normal" life.

I'm always looking to make new friends that I can talk Disney with. Please send me a message if you're interested in connecting!

 

[HooperSnag]

Good Luck, Abbey. Hope you enjoy this new chapter in your life!

 

[Jeremy and Mickey]

Hi everyone, I’m joining this thread and am excited to chat with everyone.

A little bit about me. I grew up going to Disney once a year with my family, starting pre-Epcot. I have so many fond memories there and have planned many many trips with family, friends, and have even taken my music groups to perform.

Currently, I haven’t been in about 7 years as I had a major life change. Let’s call me a “late bloomer.” It took me until age 39 to come out and live as my true self.

But life’s twists and turns have taken me to a wonderful place. I met and married my sweet husband. His name is Mickey (I swear I didn’t look for this. He actually found me). We live with our blended family of 3 teenagers and are now looking to plan our first Disney trip together.

Mickey has not been to Disney since the 1980s and 2 of our kids have never been. So I’m thrilled to start this journey and hope they all love it as much as I do.

looking forward to meeting everyone and chatting in the thread.

Jeremy

 

[andremo]

Hi everyone, I’m joining this thread and am excited to chat with everyone.

A little bit about me. I grew up going to Disney once a year with my family, starting pre-Epcot. I have so many fond memories there and have planned many many trips with family, friends, and have even taken my music groups to perform.

Currently, I haven’t been in about 7 years as I had a major life change. Let’s call me a “late bloomer.” It took me until age 39 to come out and live as my true self.

But life’s twists and turns have taken me to a wonderful place. I met and married my sweet husband. His name is Mickey (I swear I didn’t look for this. He actually found me). We live with our blended family of 3 teenagers and are now looking to plan our first Disney trip together.

Mickey has not been to Disney since the 1980s and 2 of our kids have never been. So I’m thrilled to start this journey and hope they all love it as much as I do.

looking forward to meeting everyone and chatting in the thread.

Jeremy

Welcome! Have you thought about when you want to go? I'm the bigger Disney fan of the two of us and absolutely the bigger Star Wars fan. But my partner is awesome and has learned to love my loves (and tbh, everyone loves Disney on some level). We've had two amazing trips in the past year (April and November) and will be going back for a longggg trip in November of this year. I'm a runner and will be doing the Challenge as long as they hold it. We've done CBR and Pop and loved both for different reasons. May duel stay for the long trip.

We don't have kids but here to chime in and help as much as I can. DM me if you want. Happy you have found happiness and peace with yourself.

 

[Jeremy and Mickey]

Welcome! Have you thought about when you want to go? I'm the bigger Disney fan of the two of us and absolutely the bigger Star Wars fan. But my partner is awesome and has learned to love my loves (and tbh, everyone loves Disney on some level). We've had two amazing trips in the past year (April and November) and will be going back for a longggg trip in November of this year. I'm a runner and will be doing the Challenge as long as they hold it. We've done CBR and Pop and loved both for different reasons. May duel stay for the long trip.

We don't have kids but here to chime in and help as much as I can. DM me if you want. Happy you have found happiness and peace with yourself.

we are looking at this summer or next summer. Probably in June. We have to work around school schedules and the kids activities. Also wonder if another year would allow the pandemic restrictions to continue to improve.

I love CBR and think the kids would enjoy the pool. The gondolas seem like a great addition there too

 

[Jeremy and Mickey]

How many people have been to Disneyland California? I’d love to hear about your experiences. We are thinking of sneaking a day of two there this summer

 

[wnwardii]

Since 2016, I have been at least 5 times. Haven't been back to Disnelyland Resort since it has reopened due to the pandemic though. But have two friends that live in the LA area and they go pretty regularly.

Going to the Disneyland Resort (DLR) is very different than going to Walt Disney World. Yes, there are a lot of similarities with attractions, etc.. But the planning and going to the parks is what is really different. While I love Walt Disney World, I like the ease of DLR and how everything is so close to each other. Transportation at Walt Disney World can be challenging and a long process at times. At DLR, there are many hotels surrounding DLR that are within walking distance of the DLR esplanade. In fact some of the hotels are actually closer to the entrance than the Disneyland Hotel or Paradise Pier. Not to mention that if you have a Park Hopper pass, the entrances to Disney California Adventure and the Disneyland Park are basically 300 yards apart.

When I have been to DLR, as it relates to the LGBTQ+ community, I tended to see more same-sex couples holding hands and being more affectionate than what I would see at Walt Disney World. I don't believe that DLR is more "open" than Walt Disney World with people feeling more comfortable. I think, in some ways, it is just the location of being in Southern California and that DLR has more "locals" than tourists.

About the only real downside, at least to me, is that you do lose some of the immersion and feeling of being in a "bubble" since DLR is surrounded by local Anaheim businesses. Unless you are staying at one of the DLR hotels, you will leave the "bubble" to go back to your hotel. But even with that, I still enjoy DLR and can't wait to go back.

Oh, the other thing that sort of sucks is there is no real good transportation options between the Orange County airport or LAX and DLR resort. At one point, there was some sort of bus charter service similar to Magical Express. But I do not know if that is still running. It would be more equivalent to the Mears Connect now since there is a charge for that service. I used to take Super Shuttle, but they have gone out of business. I am sure you can find charter transportation or you can always take Uber/Lyft. Unless you plan on going to other places or visiting other areas, getting a rental car just to go to DLR is not something I would do.

If there are more specific questions, don't hesitate to ask. Don't forget there is also a dedicated forum just on the Disneyland Resort.

 

[Richie248]

A big gay solo trip to WDW is taking shape! Cannot wait! Love park-hopping on my own schedule and meeting new people along the way! Originally planned 4 nights in May, now it's 8 nights and I couldn't be more excited!

 

[HooperSnag]

A big gay solo trip to WDW is taking shape! Cannot wait! Love park-hopping on my own schedule and meeting new people along the way! Originally planned 4 nights in May, now it's 8 nights and I couldn't be more excited!

I've found just about everyone is friendly there, Richie248. Striking up a conversation at a bar (even if you don't drink) leads to some fascinating conversations from people all over; especially international guests. Have a great time!

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Anyone else who is actually gay who gives no **** about this stupid don’t say gay bill

 

[EACarlson]

Anyone else who is actually gay who gives no **** about this stupid don’t say gay bill

Not gay but bi and the issue I have is how it's been misrepresented. If you disagree with what the bill actually says is one thing, many people I've seen disagree with what they think the bill says and have no inclination to actually read the bill themselves to discover what it actually says.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Not gay but bi and the issue I have is how it's been misrepresented. If you disagree with what the bill actually says is one thing, many people I've seen disagree with what they think the bill says and have no inclination to actually read the bill themselves to discover what it actually says.

I’ll be honest it gave me so much less faith in people like they legit used our community as a wedge and the bill had almost nothing to do with that. As two gay parents raising a kid I don’t want my child to learn about this in school either, but we’re not allowed to have those kinds of opinions.

 

[HooperSnag]

Our first grader's teacher was great. She alerted us as some students apparently wanted to know why our child didn't have a mommy. They weren't teasing; at that age they just don't know why someone wouldn't have a mommy. The teacher said that families come in many different types and our son happens to have two daddies. And that was that. No long drawn out story or sociological explanation. Just enough for our son to feel welcomed and then everyone moved on.

 

[Princesca]

The problem with any legislation that targets a "moral" behavior is that they are often written so vaguely that they can easily be used to persecute people if their perceived politics differs from someone else's. The way the legislation seems to be written, it appears that it could be used to prosecute someone who, when asked by a kid, made a statement like "Some families have a mom and a dad, and some families have two moms or two dads, or one dad, or one mom... all families are special and valid." There should be nothing wrong with that statement, but the way the law is written, a teacher who said that could be sued. Even if the lawsuit was unsuccessful, it's still potentially going to cost them, and/or the school district, lots of money in legal fees. There's another thread about this on the community board and someone gave a great example (I think they actually were a teacher) of a very likely scenario and how it would be related by a child to parents at home and provide grounds for lawsuits.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

The problem with any legislation that targets a "moral" behavior is that they are often written so vaguely that they can easily be used to persecute people if their perceived politics differs from someone else's. The way the legislation seems to be written, it appears that it could be used to prosecute someone who, when asked by a kid, made a statement like "Some families have a mom and a dad, and some families have two moms or two dads, or one dad, or one mom... all families are special and valid." There should be nothing wrong with that statement, but the way the law is written, a teacher who said that could be sued. Even if the lawsuit was unsuccessful, it's still potentially going to cost them, and/or the school district, lots of money in legal fees. There's another thread about this on the community board and someone gave a great example (I think they actually were a teacher) of a very likely scenario and how it would be related by a child to parents at home and provide grounds for lawsuits.

I think people are using extreme examples. People just don’t want gender or gender identity discussions in school and I agree fully.

 

[HooperSnag]

Our first grader's teacher was great. She alerted us as some students apparently wanted to know why our child didn't have a mommy. They weren't teasing; at that age they just don't know why someone wouldn't have a mommy. The teacher said that families come in many different types and our son happens to have two daddies. And that was that. No long drawn out story or sociological explanation. Just enough for our son to feel welcomed and then everyone moved on.

The question is: would our elementary school teacher be disciplined for this simple and humane way of describing our family.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

I tried to get the most neutral source on this since any of the big newspapers don’t want to actually report on it but this is 100% true and THIS is why parents do want this:

'Pink, Blue and Purple' on gender identity while second-graders will learn you can 'have boy parts but feel like a girl'​

https://wpgtalkradio.com/new-jersey-to-teach-gender-identity-lessons-to-1st-2nd-grade/

 

[columbusdizfan]

I tried to get the most neutral source on this since any of the big newspapers don’t want to actually report on it but this is 100% true and THIS is why parents do want this:

'Pink, Blue and Purple' on gender identity while second-graders will learn you can 'have boy parts but feel like a girl'​

https://wpgtalkradio.com/new-jersey-to-teach-gender-identity-lessons-to-1st-2nd-grade/

Goodness, I want all schools to teach this to first graders so that the trans and non-binary kids who don’t hear it at home grow up knowing they are not alone and their identities are valid and their friends hear that too. I am lucky to live in a school district that is inclusive and where these concepts do come up inclusively and casually even if not as part of a formal curriculum. Knowing about sexual orientation and gender identity at a young age doesn’t create gay and trans kids but it does make the gay and trans more likely to survive and thrive.

 

[CampbellzSoup]

Goodness, I want all schools to teach this to first graders so that the trans and non-binary kids who don’t hear it at home grow up knowing they are not alone and their identities are valid and their friends hear that too. I am lucky to live in a school district that is inclusive and where these concepts do come up inclusively and casually even if not as part of a formal curriculum. Knowing about sexual orientation and gender identity at a young age doesn’t create gay and trans kids but it does make the gay and trans more likely to survive and thrive.

I don’t engage in arguments like this this is the endorsement of propaganda disguised with buzz words like “survive and thrive”.

Children should be children free to explore themselves without someone’s thumb on the scale on either side.