During the first week of June, visitors and locals alike are focused on theme parks, pool parties, concerts and comedy shows—and with good reason. Gay Days Weekend is celebrating 20 years, the last 10 or so as the largest annual multi-day LGBT gathering in the nation.
But with the spotlight firmly fixed on our dazzling superstar of an event, its easy to forget that Orlando is home to a huge, diverse and vibrant LGBT community all year long. Numerous organizations, businesses and individuals contribute to a calendar filled with worthwhile endeavors and activities.
Gary Lambert owns the Gary Lambert Salon and Spa in Winter Park, and he is also the chairman of “Be Real,” an organization that supports LGBT youth. Lambert is happy that Gay Days has grown in popularity, but he points out that it is in no small part a reflection of the community as a whole.
In conjunction with Gay Days, Inc., Lambert is producing the Gay Days Kickoff Party at Saks at the Florida Mall. Money raised at the Tuesday, June 1 event will benefit Be Real.
“These events are important because we have to have enough money so that we can be there for kids and give to other supportive organizations,” Lambert says about the event. “Kids hide and are not authentic because they are being told to be something they are not. Be Real is about letting LGBT kids know they are not broken. They are empowering and amazing.”
Through his profession, Lambert is used to boosting the confidence of his clients. Be Real has a similar mission, providing resources for LGBT youth and educating the public about ways to support them both in and outside the school system. The group has donated $5,000 to the Orlando Youth Alliance—another important area resource—for their building fund, with plans to raise more. Both groups feel that it is important that there be a safe “drop-in” site for LGBT youth in crisis.
Other local groups taking advantage of Gay Days Weekend to further worthwhile projects include: Log Cabin Republicans, helping build a house for Habitat for Humanity; Gay Days, Inc., hosting free HIV/AIDS testing at their host hotel; Funky Monkey Wine Co., sponsoring tastings to benefit local AIDS support organization the Hope & Help Center; Girls In Wonderland, throwing a reception for the National Center for Lesbian Rights; and Watermark’s Stratosphere Party, benefitting the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Many promoters make substantial charitable contributions throughout the year, including Gay Days, Inc., Girls in Wonderland, Mark Baker Events, The Parliament House and Watermark.
But that’s by no means where generosity ends, or even begins, in LGBT Central Florida. The Headdress Ball, a black-tie event benefitting Hope & Help, is now in its 21st year. This outrageous event attracts as many straights as gays, and often marks the beginning of Orlando’s glittering social season. Drag performers and scantily-clad muscle guys entertain the local hoi polloi, all awaiting the presentation of over-the-top headdress creations. The annual event raises hundreds of thousands of dollars so that Hope & Help can provide case management, peer counseling, and food and housing assistance for those with HIV/AIDS.
“The Headdress Ball is a signature event,” says Jai Saint, development coordinator at Urban Models Inc. “It’s such an uplifting event, raising so much money—and awareness—for the HIV community. No other local event stands out more than Headdress.”
Urban Models provides models of all ethnicities, sexualities, shapes and sizes for area businesses and events. A number target children, so the LGBT-friendly company is organizing a ‘Fashionable Denim Drive’ for deserving kids this fall.
“We’re collecting denim from all of our models,” Saint says. The goal is to give kids a chance to feel good about their appearance and have an opportunity to wear clothes they may otherwise not be able to afford.
Bear Bust is another much-anticipated annual event in gay Orlando. The multi-day October gathering held at local hotels and bars is one of the nation’s oldest and largest bear gatherings, attracting thousands of big-and-hairy boys to Central Florida each year. Produced by the 21-year-old Bears of Central Florida, the multi-day event benefits numerous local charities and non-profits selected by BOCF each year.
Also in the fall, Joy Metropolitan Community Church sponsors a food bank that provides thousands of families with hearty Thanksgiving meals. It’s just one example of the outreach provided by the local LGBT church, which celebrates its 30th anniversary next year.
Also in operation for more than 30 years, the GLBCC Center is a drop-in facility in the heart of the area’s tres gay ViMi District north of downtown. The Center bills itself as “a source for information, education, advocacy and support,” but it is much more. Officers often serve as spokespersons for the community, and hosts dozens of groups each week for men, women, youth, elderly, transgendered, those in recovery, and many more. The Center serves more than 15,000 people each year, and more than 8,000 per month online.
But affinity groups exist throughout the city, reflecting the diversity of the local LBGT community. There are organizations for gay attorneys, gay law enforcement officers, gay Asians, gays in polyamorous (more than two) relationships, gay parents and parents with gay children, just to name a few. There are thriving alliances of gay Democrats and Republicans. Orlando also boasts an openly lesbian city commissioner, Patty Sheehan, who easily won re-election to a second term.
The Orlando Chapter of the Human Rights Campaign has been recognized as one of the fastest growing and most outstanding chapters in the nation. There are student groups at the University of Central Florida, Rollins College, as well as Gay-Straight Alliances at several local high schools.
With year-round temperate weather, it should be no surprise that LGBT sports and recreation thrive in the Orlando area. The Central Florida Softball League plays each Sunday and boasts more than 20 teams and more than 300 members. CFSL also sponsors the Orlando Meltdown Softball Tournament, which attracts more than 60 teams to sunny Florida each January.
Two bowling leagues—Tuesday and Saturday—have more than 200 members combined, and the annual Sunshine Invitational Tournament is a popular stop on the IGBO circuit. The Orlando Front Runners and Walkers meet at scenic Lake Eola each week.
There’s also culture mixed in with all that outdoor activity. The huge and highly respected Orlando International Fringe Theatre Festival is currently running and includes dozens of gay-themed productions each year. Broadway Across America regularly brings in dazzling touring shows, most recently Spring Awakening, with gay appeal. And ambitious local theatre companies target the local LGBT community with their productions and promotions.
The Orlando Gay Chorus just held their successful 20th anniversary series of concerts. With more than 120 members, it is one of the largest LGBT choruses in the nation. OGC has been instrumental in outreach to the community at large, and has garnered financial support from the Walt Disney Company and United Arts, the local arts umbrella organization.
Hundreds of gay-owned businesses also thrive in Orlando. Dr. David Baker-Hargrove is president of the 200-plus member Metropolitan Business Association, an LGBT chamber of commerce of sorts. He is also the president of Come Out with Pride, Orlando’s huge multi-day annual Pride celebration held in conjunction with National Coming Out Day in early October. The Sunday Pride Parade and Festival attract more than 60,000 to a beautiful location around Lake Eola. This year’s Grand Marshal is Greg Louganis, and entertainment will be provided by Mary Ellen Clar, Bryan Kent and Martha Wash.
“Come Out With Pride is a cultural event,” Baker-Hargrove says. “Part of it is a history exhibit that chronicles how the LBGT community has evolved in Central Florida over the last 50 years.”
One significant component of that evolution is Gay Days, a fact to be enjoyed and celebrated. But Orlando’s LGBT community can look in every direction to find sources of Pride.
