An extremely high turnout for the statute-mandated free admission day at The Holy Land Experience resulted in staffers turning many guests away at the door, including a number of LGBTs who showed up in red shirts trying to create a Gay Day.
So many people showed up for free admission on Oct. 6 that the park was full to its capacity of 1,500 guests just a few minutes after it opened at 10 a.m. Park employees stood outside the gates and offered people free passes for a different day. Despite the early shutdown, the area was plagued by crowds, parking problems and traffic for several hours, eventually causing police to completely shut down the I-4 Conroy Road exit. The park is located just east of that exit.
The free admission day is required so that Trinity Broadcasting Network can enjoy a $300,000 property tax break via their status as a religious organization. It piqued LGBT interest about a month ago, when Orlando DJ and journalist Kirk Hartlage noticed that the Holy Land’s free day fell in the week before Come Out With Pride. He decided that a gay day at the Bible-themed park would be an interesting kickoff to the celebration weekend and he began a grassroots effort to spread the word. Hartlage encouraged LGBTs to visit the park that day wearing red shirts, renascent of how Gay Day at Disney World began.
TBN got wind of the plan but said it would be businesses as usual at the park that day; all guests would be welcome.
Many attempted to be guests that day. The traffic back-ups near the Conroy Road exit began well before the park opened, persisted for most of the morning and spread to neighboring roads. Police and private security presence was heavy both inside and outside of the park. As late as 1 p.m., people were still lined up at the park’s gates. There was no evidence so suggest that people were turned away for discriminatory reasons and hundreds of people from all backgrounds did not make it into the park.
Mike Everett, Holy Land Experience on-site director, said he didn’t know if it was usually so crowded on the park’s free admission day because he said it was his first year working at the park. Other park employees said the high attendance may have been a little higher than in years past.
A few guests representing the LGBT community did make it inside. Hartlage said he was with a group of about a dozen people, and they did see a few other red-shirted LGBTs throughout the day.
“I knew it was going to be an interesting day when I got there and the first people I saw were security guards who happened to be a guy I worked with at Hamburger Mary’s who I know is gay,” Hartlage said.
He said some of the other members of his group recognized Holy Land cast members from the local theatre community.
Retail manager Bill Stiller wore a red T-shirt printed with “I Survived Gay Days” and said employees and other guests didn’t react at all. He said he enjoyed the passion of the performers in contrast with the commercialism of the park itself.
Roxy’s bartender Tim Richardson wore cutoffs and a half-shirt, and said some of the younger guests snickered and pointed, but the park employees were very polite.
Richardson and several other LGBT attendees indicated that curiosity is what brought them to Holy Land that day, and they just wanted to check another Orlando attraction “off the list.” If novelty was a key motivator, what does that mean for the future of gay day at Holy Land?
Hartlage said he’s not sure he’d try to do it again.
“It was a plan because of how the timing worked out with Pride weekend,” he said. “I believe that if the Christian right community continues to attempt to keep rights from our community, we should make a stronger stance and perhaps more, better-organized events like this should take place.”
