I subscribe to several news feeds that pertain to subjects I may be blogging about. Every single news feed was buzzing about this hot little news item. It has evoked both strong applause and strong disapproval.
To recap, apparently up until this past week, Disney was restricting same sex couples from renting Disney spaces that were specifically designed to hold weddings but they would allow them to rent meeting rooms for ‘commitment ceremonies.’ However, they’ve recently decided to do ‘the right thing’ (as one spokesman put it) and allow same sex couples to buy wedding packages, complete with all the fairy tale amenities.
The Right Thing
My own personal opinion on gay marriage is irrelevant here. And honestly so is Disney’s. My gut hunch is that this is a business decision–pure and simple. Yes, call me cynical but I don’t think the marketing machine known as Disney really feels socially compelled one way or the other. I think someone has analyzed the requests and decided that even if they lose a few of their customers due to the controversial decision, they will exceed their losses with their all inclusive sales. I suspect Disney cares as much about gay rights as they care about PETA. . .it’s all business. (In fact, Disney is not even listed on the Human Rights Campaign’s list of ‘gay friendly’ companies.)
Disney’s Family Orientation
There has been a small outcry from those who oppose gay marriage. They are afraid that Disney will lose it’s ‘family’ orientation (and this is a quote from one comment I read) “running amuck with all those gay people wanting to get married.” And again, regardless of my own personal opinions on gay marriage, I have to disagree.
I don’t think Disney opening it’s doors to same sex couples will cause it to ‘run amuck’ with same sex couples. I also highly doubt that even if it does suddenly flood with wealthy gay couples wanting a Disney wedding, you or your kids would hardly notice. One comment I read shared concerns about suddenly seeing gay couples making out. I just went and didn’t see one heterosexual couple ‘making out’ and so I suspect that neither will the gay couples. I also suspect that since heterosexual couples do not all flock to Disney for a wedding, neither will all the gay couples flock to Disney for a wedding–thus defeating the “run amuck” theory. I also suspect that should a gay couple OR heterosexual couple engage in a little too much PDA (public displays of affection), Disney resort staff would kindly point them to their own hotel room.
To me, this is a case of ownership. People complain about Walmart not supporting public schools enough or about other organizations supporting this thing or that. The bottom line? Disney is a business that makes business decisions. They can do with their space and their money as they want.