While Orlando did pass a gay-rights ordinance in 2002 and elected Patty Sheehan, who is openly lesbian, to the City Council in 2000, the surrounding area of Orange County has not fully accepted gays and lesbians, some gay activists say.īut even within the city, there are still attacks against gays, including one on a man in January.
The influx of gay visitors has come as something of a shock to locals in this often conservative metropolis - a sleepy Southern community until Disney established itself in Central Florida in the 1970's. They put down around $14,000 a week for a two-bedroom unit at the Gardens, saying they preferred the idea of visiting the resort, with its gay-themed amenities and ambience, rather than trying to fit in at a nongay establishment. Rodriguez in New York both are Parliament House regulars who come to Orlando as a midway vacation destination. It's an approach that appealed to Darren Langford and Victor Rodriguez, a couple who split their time in different cities - Mr. Schmidt, a time-share sales veteran who is gay. Gay people are in the gym every day," said Mr. There will also be what the project director, Charles Schmidt, describes as an up-to-date health club that's far larger than those at most time-share resorts. The units, spread among five buildings, are being sold for $9,400 to $20,000 a week, depending on size and season.
At the Parliament House's $25 million-plus time-share, for example, the amenities in each unit will range from granite countertops to risqué artwork with gay appeal, plus a whirlpool bath that will light up with the colors of the rainbow. THE two new gay-oriented resorts are an attempt to extend that buffet year-round, creating places where gay travelers can feel at ease in the shadow of the Mouse House. Matias himself will appear in "Lounge-zilla!", billed as a show featuring "original tunes about fetishes, threesomes, stalking, bizarre sibling rivalries, vengeance and sex-change operations." "It's a gay buffet," said Fiely Matias, an Orlando gay entertainer, searching for the best way to describe the event. This year's events, which begin on May 31, are expected to draw more than 125,000 people. In spite of protests from groups, particularly Christian activists, Gay Days has soared in popularity.
That's all in addition to the annual event that put Orlando on the gay map in the first place: Gay Days, a series of parties, performances and gatherings throughout the city around the first week of June, highlighted by trips en masse to the local theme parks - the Magic Kingdom included - where participants typically sport red T-shirts to stand out from other visitors. "You can go waterskiing with these!" he laughed. The owner, Leigh Shannon, himself a well-known female impersonator, pulls out a size-15 pair of red pumps for a curious customer. At Ritzy Rags Wigs & More, an emporium that specializes in gay-pride items and gowns and accessories for drag queens, sales have tripled in the last three years. While Orlando lacks a defined gay center like the Castro district of San Francisco, gay-friendly bars, clubs and stores like Pulse, Lava Lounge and Mojo Books are loosely scattered throughout the city, and Orlando has the oldest gay community center in Florida. And closer to Disney - on the often ticky-tacky tourist strip of Highway 192 in Kissimmee - the Freedom Resort & Spa, a gay-oriented membership resort, has just opened on the site of a former Travelodge hotel the price of membership begins at $3,000. In addition to a $2 million makeover in recent years, Parliament House is just breaking ground on the Gardens, an adjoining 164-unit time-share resort that is being heralded as the first gay-friendly project of its kind in the world. Indeed, as improbable as it may seem in a town dominated by mouse ears and miniature golf, Orlando has emerged in the last few years as a major destination for gay tourists. "Our slogan is 'Orlando has more than one magical kingdom,"' said Don Granatstein, an owner of Parliament House, referring to the Disney theme park. In other words, this is Orlando gone gay. And at the complex's small Footlight Theater, drag queens take the stage, including one seemingly pregnant female impersonator who gives "birth" to the musical strains of "I'm Every Woman." At another, a more rough-and-tumble Western-minded crowd holds sway. That's not surprising: the club, actually several bars and a hotel rolled into one sprawling complex, has become a definitive destination in Orlando, though not quite in the mold of Walt Disney World, just a 30-minute drive away.Īt one of the Parliament House's bars, male dancers perform in little more than their skivvies. A LITTLE past midnight at the Parliament House, the parking lot is full.