User:BeProudandOut/sandbox

Out In The Park at Six Flags New England


Where This “Gay Day” was born...

Out In The Park began as Out In The Park at Riverside Park in 1997 in Agawam Massachusetts. (Riverside Park became Six Flags New England in 2000) - Out In The Park began as a loosely organized community event where lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals, their families, friends and supporters would go to Six Flags New England (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Flags_New_England) on a single day each year.

Out In The Park was typically held on the third Sunday in September. When this event began in 1997, the amusement park at the time was called Riverside Park, but in 2000 the park name was changed to Six Flags New England to reflect the new ownership of the Riverside Park property.

Out In The Park was a community organized event from 1997 through the 2008 season. Organized and promoted by LGBT organizations throughout New England, Out In The Park grew to be a very successful annual event similar to Gay Days at Walt Disney World (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_Days_at_Walt_Disney_World) but on a smaller scale in Massachusetts.

Selection of the third Sunday in September was made to help coordinate Out In The Park as a warm-up event to National Coming Out Day (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Coming_Out_Day) on October 11th. Also, selecting a date in September meant that the weather was typically still warm, but the park was less crowded.

By 2008, the event had grown to over 10,000 gays and lesbians traveling for the gay day at Six Flags New England. From 2009 on, Six Flags New England took over control of the event, what it was called and when it was held at the park. ''Note that Six Flags does not keep a history of their past events on their website. ''

History
The first documented event, was held in September 1997, and had approximately 500 gays and lesbians from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire and Maine attending on one day. After a few years, It was decided to wear red shirts to be make their presence more visible - we were inspired by Gay Days at Walt Disney World (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay_Days_at_Walt_Disney_World).

In 2000, Out In The Park began inviting attendees to wear red t-shirts of their choice to show their support of the LGBT community. This idea was something that Gay Days at Walt Disney World had been doing for several years prior. Success inspires more success.

In 2004 we partnered with Project 100 in Hartford Connecticut and began offering a Pride Festival in the Picnic Grove. Six Flags New England began offering a meal inclusive park admission ticket with a special discount for Season Pass holders, and a regular price for everyone else. Lunch was served in the Picnic Grove, before opening the picnic grove up to all Out In The Park attendees to the entertainment that we organized for the rest of the day. In total, 17 different acts and entertainers performed during our first festival during Out In The Park 2004.

The popularity of this "Gay Day" event is seen by some attendees as a way of "reclaiming" normal joys of childhood lost to homophobia in their earlier years. Growth in attendance also reflects the growing number of LGBT families with children as well as increasing numbers of LGBT marriages.

Same Sex Marriage became legal in Massachusetts in May 2004 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_Massachusetts). This was a historical first as Massachusetts became the first state in the United States of America to offer legal Same Sex Marriage in 2004, but would eventually be expanded to all 50 states in 2015 (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Same-sex_marriage_in_the_United_States). Vermont was the first state to offer Same Sex Civil Unions in 2000, then began offering Same Sex Marriage in 2009. The timing of Same Sex Marriage becoming legal in Massachusetts in May 2004 was purely coincidental, as plans to also offer the first Out In Park Pride Festival had begun in 2003. Timing is everything. The 2004 Out In The Park became an even bigger celebration as thousands and thousands attended wearing their red t-shirts!

Over the years, we worked with various LGBT publications like The Rainbow Times (http://www.therainbowtimesmass.com), Bay Windows (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Windows - http://baywindows.com/pride-events-for-2004-57673), In Newsweekly (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Newsweekly) to advertise and help promote this "Gay Day" event.

Additional “Out” Events or Gay Day Events
The success of Out In The Park at Riverside Park and then subsequently Out In The Park at Six Flags New England inspired us to begin similar gay day events at other amusements parks, county fairs and renaissance fairs in the six New England’s states, upstate New York in Lake George and even Montreal Canada.

• Out In The Park at Six Flags New England was the first gay day event held in Agawam Massachusetts, and ran as an event specifically open to the public from 1997 to 2008. Beginning in 2009, Six Flags New England took over running this gay day and closed the park to the public, requiring everyone to purchase a park admission. Season pass holders could no longer use their season pass for admission, nor could any park discount coupons be used.

• Out At The Fair at The Big E (initially Out On The Farm at The Big E) was held at the Eastern States Exposition in West Springfield Massachusetts. Usually held on the Saturday before ‘Out In The Park at Six Flags New England’ on Sunday the same weekend.

• Out In The Realm with Queen Elizabeth at The Vermont Renaissance Faire held in July.

• Pride On The Lake at Canobie Lake Park in New Hampshire.

• Pride In The Park at Funtown / Splashtown USA in Saco Maine.

• Out Around The Lake at The Great Escape (eventually a Six Flags Park) in Lake George New York.

• Out On The Lake at Lake Compounce in Bristol Connecticut.

• Out In The Court at King Richard’s Faire in Carver Massachusetts. Usually held on the first Saturday of October.

• Out In The Kingdom at King Arthur’s Connecticut Renaissance Faire in. usually held on the first Sunday of October.

• Out En La Ronde at Six Flags La Ronde in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.