Some Baptists visit Disney World despite boycott

Pastors split over promoting boycott from pulpit

June 22, 1997
Web posted at: 11:06 p.m. EDT (0306 GMT)

ORLANDO, Florida (CNN) -- On the first Sunday since Southern Baptists launched a boycott of everything Disney, it wasn't hard to find members of the nation's largest Protestant denomination enjoying the sun and fun of Disney World.

"We already had our tickets and reservations," said Mitch Johnson, a 33-year-old father of three from South Carolina. "I don't know if we'll come back. We'll have to see what they say at church."

Said Tracy Martinez of Coral Gables, Florida: "Oh, I don't think we're supposed to boycott Disney World. It's just the bad movies and stuff. But I think they should definitely keep the gays out."

"This could be our last trip for awhile," said Rusty Anderson of Birmingham, Alabama. "We'll have to see what steps Disney is willing to take."

What about watching college football on Disney-owned cable network ESPN?

"Well, I don't see what football has to do with anything," Anderson said.

Overtures to gays, lesbians sparked boycott

Delegates to the Southern Baptist Convention's national assembly voted overwhelmingly last week in Dallas to boycott Disney and its subsidiaries, including its theme parks, films and television networks.

The vote was sparked by Disney's decision to extend employee benefits to the partners of gay and lesbian employees.

An annual Gay Days event is organized each June at Disney World. The company doesn't sponsor the event, but doesn't discourage it, either. And the Disney-owned ABC television network is the home of the sitcom "Ellen," which features a lesbian lead character.

Parishioners in some Southern Baptist churches Sunday were greeted with the call for the boycott. The Rev. Mike Gray of the Southeast Baptist Church in Salt Lake City, Utah, planned to read the resolution from the pulpit.

Pastor in Walt Disney's hometown backs boycott

The leader of the First Baptist Church in the late Walt Disney's hometown of Marceline, Missouri, is also backing the boycott wholeheartedly.

"Disney, typically a family organization, is wrong in its actions," the Rev. Delmar McCollum said. "Sometimes people's strings can only be touched by money. I support the boycott, not out of hate, but out of a sense of right and wrong."

But not all Southern Baptist pastors were going along with the denomination's stand against Disney. For example, in the Orlando area, where many Disney employees sit in the pews, most pastors said they would not urge their congregations to join the boycott.

In Raleigh, North Carolina, the Rev. Mack Thompson, pastor of the Ridge Road Baptist Church, also decided not to mention the boycott in his Sunday sermon.

"Basically, we ignore those sorts of things," Thompson said. "Most of the Baptist pastors I've talked to here are not paying attention to it."

"There are certainly some moral issues that need to be addressed, but I don't think this is the way to do it. It sends a bad message to a company that has done a lot of good things for families."

Reuters contributed to this report.

Message Board: Southern Baptists boycott Disney

Related sites:

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Walt Disney Company
SBC'97 - information on the 1997 Annual Meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention held June 17-19 at the Dallas Convention Center in Dallas, Texas.
GLAAD, Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation
Southern Baptist Disney Boycott - GLAAD Press 6/13/96

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