It’s Pride Month! Let’s Take a Closer Look at How Disney is Celebrating!
Happy Pride Month Disney friends! Disney is celebrating and recognizing the contributions and stories of the LGBTQ community around the world.
Each year Disney looks forward to celebrating Pride Month with guests and cast members alike. Throughout the month, Disney will be sharing some of the inspiring stories of those for whom Pride Month is incredibly important!
Over the past month, we here at MickeyBlog have already shared with you some of the awesome products that Disney is unveiling during Pride Month. In addition The Walt Disney Company has also pledged to give funds to organizations around the world that support LGBTQ communities.
For those interested, you’ll find out more here: RainbowDisneyCollection.com.
To kick off this year’s Pride festivities, Disney thought it be a great idea to introduce you to one of the original founders – Brian NG. He is Product Design Manager for Marvel and turned his inspiration into creation for Disney’s amazing Pride merchandise collection.
Brian an the Disney PRIDE Employee Resource Group (which advocates and celebrates LGBTQ+ and ally cast members) works tirelessly to foster a culture of inclusivity across the Walt Disney Company.
They first proposed a Disney Pride collection several years ago. Brian conceptualized and established the first collection which has now blossomed into an eclectic array of items that serve as a celebratory symbol of acceptance and love!
“It’s been a privilege to be a part of this journey and see it evolve over the years.” Brain said. “The way that it started, it just happened to be the right time to say, ‘How do we be better advocates?’ and ‘How do we advocate for the LGBTQ+ community in our space?’ For us, in product design, products are our space and that’s where we saw an opportunity to do more.”
Brian brings to his role a professional expertise and personal dedication to the LGBTQ+ community. Each year Brian helps Disney make some crucial decisions about the collection before it hits the shelves always looking for items that reflective Disney’s wonderful and diverse community in a thoughtful way!
“Year over year, I think we expand the collection from a product perspective, and we’re always trying to expand representation, while also still doing right by the community and the fans,” Brian said. “It is fun and trending to bring rainbow Pride products to the marketplace, but it means a lot to folks who see a company like Disney say, ‘I see you and recognize you.’”
For Brian, and others involved in Disney’s Pride Month celebration each June, this event is about embracing who you are! At the end of the day, I think it’s all about acceptance. It’s about self-acceptance. It’s about being accepted by your loved ones. It’s about being accepted by society,” Brian shared. “It’s really about who you are and how you express yourself and who you love.”
You can check out some of the awesome items in Disney’s Pride Collection which Brian helped to create in the YouTube video below:
Be sure to check in with us here at MickeyBlog throughout the month where we’ll be sharing more Pride Month news and activities.
A few ones to kick things off are as follows:
- Be sure to check out the Love, Victor photo opportunity available now at Downtown Disney District, located directly in front of the Downtown Disney Stage near Star Wars Trading Post.
- At Walt Disney World, “Share Your Pride” with your family and friends with unique offerings like Pride PhotoPass experiences – plus retailers at Disney Springs are celebrating the month with exclusive collections that benefit and support various LBGTQ+ nonprofits and organizations.
Wherever you’re celebrating, live it up this Pride month!
With new policies and procedures in place there’s never been a better time to work with an Authorized Disney Vacation Planner who can help you navigate through Disney World’s new way of doing things! Just fill out my form HERE to get your FREE, no-obligation quote. Alternatively, feel free to reach out at mroden@mickeytravels.com or follow along on Facebook