Many thousands of people attended the first Gay Pride in Disneyland Paris on Saturday evening. With the parade and a big party evening, Disney wants to explicitly declare its solidarity with diversity in general and the LGBT community in particular. The intention is for the Gay Pride in Disneyland Paris to become an annual tradition.
The event kicked off Saturday night with a long parade of hundreds of dancing Disney LGBT crew members and well-known Disney characters who were cheered on by the thousands of fans. Among others Mickey and Minnie, Buzz Lightyear and cowboy Woody, Lightning McQueen (the car from Cars ), the Genie from Aladdinand rat Remi from Ratatouille participated in the cheerful parade and expressed their support for the LGBT community. Almost everyone present wore T-shirts or other paraphernalia with rainbow colors.
During the Magical Pride evening there are performances by the legendary singer Boy George and the popular British synth pop band Years & Years. Boy George, who never made a secret of his homosexuality, broke through in the 1980s as the lead singer of the band Culture Club. Years & Years broke through in 2015 with her debut album Communion, in that year the best selling album of a new band.
Visitors to the two parks in Paris were also asked to dress this weekend as exuberantly and festively as possible for diversity and the LGBT community. The Magical Pride weekend on this scale is a novelty for Disneyland Paris; ‘gay days’ have been taking place in American parks for a number of years.