09.29.07
Disney Issues Apology to Gay Couple
Disney issued a formal apology to a San Diego man for an incident Saturday at Disneyland that the company claims was a misunderstanding but which the man asserts was anti-gay bias. Sounds to me that this was just one big mistake - but here’s the news - from gay.com:
Wil Kenney claims he was targeted and harassed by Disneyland security — as well as roughed up by Anaheim, Calif., police — because a Disney staff member overreacted to Kinney’s holding another man’s hand.
According to Kenney, he and his partner — along with two other same-sex couples and their children — were walking through the theme park’s Downtown Disney area when Disney security detained them.
Security claimed Kenney had threatened someone with a gun; Kenney denied it. Anaheim police were called; Kenney said they forced him face-first into a wall and then frisked, searched and interrogated him in front of hundreds of Disney guests.
Kenney said officers left after finding no weapons on anyone in his party. He said he may have been targeted by police because a Disney employee grew nervous seeing Kenney holding hands with his partner, which he believes led to the chain of events.
Read the rest of the story after the jump.
Rob Doughty, vice president of communications for Disneyland, said the whole incident was a misunderstanding that had nothing to do with Kenney’s sexuality. Doughty claimed Kenney made a hand gesture that a Disney crew member interpreted as threatening. Doughty said security came over and detained Kenney and his group, who grew angry.
“He made his hand look like a gun,” Doughty said. “Someone interpreted that as a gun.”
One of Kenney’s friends at Disneyland was Brian van de Mark, the owner of a communications and marketing firm that focuses on social-justice issues. Van de Mark, who is serving as Kenney’s media representative, said there was no threatening hand gesture. Van de Mark said that after the police left, Kenney and his group demanded a meeting with Disney security manager Deana Van Noy.
At that meeting, van de Mark said, Van Noy told the group that she “could not remember whether the cast member (who contacted Disney security) said she was threatened, felt threatened or was offended,” and that she added, “It doesn’t make a difference anyway.”
Doughty could not confirm that Van Noy used those words. Doughty, who heads Disney’s employee gay group, said Disney staffers were not even aware Kenney was gay until two hours after the incident.
“Our policy is, everyone is welcome,” Doughty said. “If a same-sex couple wants to hold hands at our park, that’s fine.”
The Anaheim park’s unofficial Gay Days are Oct. 5-7 this year.
Doughty said the apology was being issued for the misunderstanding over the hand gesture and denied that a homophobic employee started the whole scuffle.
“I can assure you, this is a company that would not tolerate that behavior from a cast member,” he said. “We’re a very welcoming company.”
But van de Mark claims that Van Noy refused to apologize to the group, and that after the meeting, plainclothes Disney security followed them around the park. According to van de Mark, the group went to a Disney store, where a Disney employee asked how their day was.
When they answered that it had not gone well because they had been harassed by security personnel, van de Mark said the crew member told them, “Well, in fact, you’re still being followed,” and pointed to plainclothes security officers in their midst.
Anaheim police Sgt. Rick Martinez denied the incident had anything to do with the guests being gay. When asked whether Kenney was pushed against a wall and frisked, Martinez said, “I would define it as ‘detained.’” Kenney and his group “might have been frisked,” he said.