It’s no secret that we are huge Disney lovers. We’ve been to many of the Disney parks around the world, and one of the reasons we love Disney as a company, is because of how inclusive they are. The Walt Disney Company has been supportive of the LGBTQ+ community for decades, and the parks have always been a safe space for everyone.
The Company
Disney has demonstrated through their company culture and progressive policies, that they support the LGBTQ+ community. Here are just some of the examples:
- In the US, where businesses are not required by law to offer health benefits to same sex partners, Disney has offered them since 1995.
- Disney has allowed same sex weddings at their US resorts since 2007, thirteen years before marriage equality in America.
- Beginning in 1991, Walt Disney World Orlando has celebrated Gay Days, which is an LGBTQ+ celebration that has become one of the most popular Pride events in the world. Disneyland California, Tokyo Disney, Disneyland Paris, Disneyland Hong Kong have all followed suit.
- In 2013 Walt Disney World hired their first openly gay president.
- Disney signed amicus briefs for both the DOMA and Prop 8 cases, as well as a friend-of-the-court brief in 2015 in support of marriage equality.
- In 2018 Disney released their first rainbow Pride merchandise.
- Disney has featured gay and lesbian characters as well as same sex couples in their programming, despite opposition from religious groups.
Disneyland California
We’ve been to Disneyland California together in 2012 & 2017, and both times we felt very safe being out and open as a lesbian couple. California is one of the most progressive US states in regards to their LGBTQ+ policies, and they have been leaders in the fight for equality for our community. We held hands, kissed, and took couple photos in the California park, and we felt very comfortable being ourselves!
Walt Disney World Orlando
We visited the four Walt Disney World parks together in Florida in 2018, and were pleasantly surprised at how lesbian friendly they were. Florida is a more conservative state, and their LGBTQ+ laws certainly have room for improvement. That being said, the Disney Parks are a safe and welcoming place for our community, and we felt comfortable being open as a lesbian couple at Walt Disney World. There were other same sex couples being open in the parks (we saw the most at Epcot!), and there were plenty of people sporting rainbow Mickey ears, and other Pride gear.
Disneyland Paris
We went to Disneyland Paris together in 2016, and had an amazing time! It was our first experience at a Disney Park overseas, but we felt the same magic and the same feeling of safety and comfort as a same sex couple. The laws in France regarding LGBTQ+ people are quite progressive and Paris has often been regarded as one of the most gay friendly cities in the world. Nobody seemed to bat an eye when we held hands walking through the park or snuggled on the rides. We definitely felt safe being ourselves!
Tokyo Disney
We visited Tokyo Disney together in 2018, and we absolutely loved it. PDA isn’t a large part of Japanese culture, but we saw a lot of couples showing affection with one another at the Disney Park, which made us feel comfortable holding hands and stealing a kiss here and there. Attitudes toward LGBTQ+ people in Japan are relatively positive, and in general the culture is very polite and respectful. We felt comfortable being open as a lesbian couple.
Have you been to one of the Disney Parks? Share your experience in the comments below!
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