Would You Miss Ryan on Day Without A Gay?

Today is the first ever “Day Without A Gay!” Queer folks and our allies have been encouraged to “call in gay” to work, and instead spend the day volunteering at their local gay-friendly organization. Maybe it’s a local chapter of Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays, or maybe it’s a homeless shelter….any local organization qualifies, as long as they welcome volunteers who might happen to be gay. Day Without A Gay will “fight the H8 with love.”

We’ve reacted to anti-gay ballot initiatives in California, Arizona Florida, and Arkansas with anger, with resolve, and with courage. NOW, it’s time to show America and the world how we love.

Gay people and our allies are compassionate, sensitive, caring, mobilized, and programmed for success. A day without gays would be tragic because it would be a day without love.

If you’re not actually gay but want to support the event, the organizers have given everybody a free “Gay for a Day” pass. You can participate even if you can’t miss work today.

And, well, I’d take a gay day, but I’d already taken a vacation day today….I’m heading to Walt Disney World for MouseFest! So instead, I’ll just take a moment to reflect on what the Disney company might well look like without gay people. Actually, no, I don’t even want to think about it! I’ve already written for Jentasmic! about how sometimes Disney is just so gay.

Instead, let’s just try to imagine the High School Musical series without Ryan Evans. Puh-leeze! And it’s not just that Sharpay wouldn’t have a convenient foil for the best line in HSM3 (“he’s doing some kind of crazy Fosse yoga thing!”), or that we wouldn’t get to watch his character evolve over the franchise from mindless Sharpay minion to Julliard scholarship winner. It’s also the fact that the series just wouldn’t be as much fun without him, without the drama queer that so many of us knew in high school, that many of us were. Where would we be without his brave fashion sense, his willingness to challenge Chad to a baseball/dancing duel, his sarcastic cynical edge at the start of HSM3’s  “I Want It All?”

But a recent conversation with my husband brought me back to the real point of Day Without A Gay….gay people aren’t just styling our hair, choreographing our Broadway shows, and decorating our interiors (ahem), as important as all those tasks may be. They are also delivering our FedEx packages, removing our appendixes, teaching our science classes, writing our Web 2.0 databases, working in our factories, flying our airplanes. Animating our favorite films. Delivering our Dream Fast Passes. Serving our Scopa Special at Le Cellier. Driving the Magical Express (oh, that last one sounded kinda off-color, didn’t it?).

My life is richer because I was one of those queer drama geeks, and because I have plenty of them in my life today. If you’re a Disney fan, I’ll bet your life is richer because some of those queer drama geeks have produced, performed, and supported movies and park attractions you enjoy. So even if you have to go to work today, feel free to use that free “Gay for a Day” pass anyway…we’re all in this together.

Counting Down to MouseFest 2008!

Okay, I know it’s still a couple months away…but I’m excited to let you know that the Those Darn Cats Podcast (of which I am a co-host and co-producer) is an Underwriting Sponsor for MouseFest 2008! We’ve got a page up on our blog with info for a couple meets we’re hosting, at Haunted Mansionand Finding Nemo – The Musical. We may even throw something together for Thursday morning, if enough of our buddies seem to be around that early (hey buddy, whatcha doin’ before MouseFest 101?). And of course, the MouseFest site is the ultimate authority for all the various meets that will take place that week…including (I’m sure) tons that haven’t even been scheduled yet.

Photo by my BFF

I am very sad that my son (aka The Wachamacallit) won’t be coming with me, due to his demanding academic life. (I’ve been complaining about this for a while now….even rambled on about it on my Jentasmic! column in August.) But Pal Mickey will no doubt keep me company — he does tell a joke or two, from time to time.

Plus, I’ve heard that there’s no such thing as a solo trip to MouseFest. It’s still early October and already I’m having to make tough choices about which activities to partake of! I suspect I will not have much time to sit around and mope.

And besides, I could not even consider missing MouseFest this year! I cannot risk a repeat of last year’s Mr. Potato Head Meet, which is the sole post ever published here under the tag “bitter bitter bitter.” Nobody wants to see that happen again.

Roll Call: Magic Meet 2008

I assure you that I’m holding up fine, not being at MouseFest and all. Of course, I’ve already marked my calendar for MouseFest 2008 (December 11-15), and marked my calendar for the 330-day window so I can book my frequent-flier-mile ticket as soon as the airlines let me, but don’t let that make you think I’m antsy or anything! (Say, do you think I should stay at Scopa Towers, or will it be too packed with Pop Warner or cheerleaders or somesuch?)

Pal Mickey, on the other hand, seems to be getting a little depressed. So, help me out a little here, okay people? He and I already have quite firm plans to attend Magic Meet 2008, on Saturday July 19, which we’re guessing will be somewhere near Harrisburg PA (though we’ll surely travel anywhere in New England for it). And I just know many of our favorite bloggers, podcasters, and overall Disney geeks will be there . . . but Mickey’s a little skeptical. So, time for a roll call! Who’s going to Magic Meet 2008? And whaddya think, should I make matching cat costumes for Mickey and me?