Florida
Gay Days pausing Orlando event. Here’s what we know
ORLANDO, Fla. – A major event for the LGBTQ community in Orlando won’t be happening this year as the organizers deal with challenges on several fronts.
The organizers for Gay Days announced Sunday that its annual event in Orlando is on pause for this year.
“Changes to our host hotel agreement, the loss of key sponsorship support, and broader challenges currently impacting LGBTQIA+ events nationwide made it impossible to deliver the experience our community deserves,” the organizers posted on Facebook.
However, organizers say the event is not over, just on pause.
Gay Days began in 1991 as a single-day gathering where people would wear red and go to Central Florida theme parks, particularly Disney World.
Over the next 35 years, the event evolved into a weeklong celebration with parties, concerts, theme park visits and special events drawing over 180,000 attendees in recent years.
However, recent laws and actions in Florida have jeopardized the state’s status as a friendly place for members of the LGBTQ+ community to visit, according to Human Rights Campaign.
[WATCH: Gay Days adjusts to Florida’s new LGBTQ+ legislation]
They include a law to criminalize transgender people from using the restroom that matches their gender identity (HB 1521), policies banning gender affirming care, or allowing health care providers to refuse a patient care based on religious or moral beliefs, and a law that revokes licenses from businesses that allow children at “sexually explicit” shows.
The Human Rights Campaign issued a travel advisory for Florida after those laws were signed in 2023.
However, Orlando itself received a 100% score on Human Rights Campaign’s Municipal Equality Index last year, showing how the city has remained a welcoming place for the LGBTQ+ community.,
Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.
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Fast-growing South Florida wildfire consumes over 4,000 acres
A swiftly-growing wildfire in western Broward County has consumed over 4,000 acres, having ballooned in size since igniting a few days ago.
The Atlantic Fire, located near the Sawgrass Expressway and Commercial Boulevard, burned 4,755 acres and was 0% contained as of 8:01 p.m. June 29, according to a map of active wildfires provided by the Florida Forest Service. The fire began over the weekend, and had grown to 180 acres by Sunday.
Wildfires in neighboring Miami-Dade County burned thousands of acres in recent weeks
Three wildfires burning in Miami-Dade County cumulatively consumed over 19,000 acres over the past few weeks.
The Quarry 2 Fire, which began on June 15 near NW 137 Avenue and NW 41 Street, had grown to 19,018 acres and was 97% contained as of 1:26 p.m. June 21, according to a map of active wildfires provided by the Florida Forest Service. The Well Fire, which began on June 16 and is located near NW 122 Avenue and NW 58 Street, had burned 2,814 acres and was 90% contained as of 4:41 p.m. June 25.
The Corrections Fire, located south of 8th Street and west of Krome Avenue, had burned 363 acres and was 95% contained as of 12:12 p.m. June 25.
Sarah Perkel is a South Florida Connect Reporter for the USA TODAY Network’s Florida Connect team. You can get all of Florida’s best content directly in your inbox each weekday day by signing up for the free newsletter, Florida TODAY.
Florida
50 tons of South Florida aid headed to Venezuela following earthquakes
Fifty tons of humanitarian aid donated by South Floridians are on their way to Venezuela following the earthquakes that rocked the country last week.
The aid shipment departed from Miami International Airport around 9 p.m. Monday aboard a LATAM Cargo plane.
According to the Global Empowerment Mission, or GEM, the 50 tons of supplies are equivalent to the weight of about 10 adult elephants and include food, medicine and other critical items.
Rows of strategically packed pallets lined the tarmac Monday night before being loaded onto the aircraft.
GEM partnered with LATAM Cargo for the rapid deployment effort after the earthquakes devastated parts of Venezuela.
“So in this load right here, it’s a combination of our family kits,” Michael Kesti with GEM Government Affairs said. “The kit is enough food for a family of four for five days, so beans and rice and that. A small generator, we give them as well, and a case of water. And then in some cases, we have tents as well.”
GEM has already delivered supplies to earthquake victims in Venezuela, but officials said Monday’s flight carrying 50 tons of aid is the organization’s largest shipment so far.
“This is an extraordinary gesture because everybody is waiting on pins and needles to see how we can help,” Miami-Dade County Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said.
At Global Empowerment Mission’s (GEM) headquarters in Doral, volunteers are working around the clock as donations continue to pour in following Venezuela’s devastating earthquakes.
GEM is not the only organization working to provide relief.
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church has also been collecting and organizing donations since the disaster struck.
Officials with the church said they have collected about 150 pallets of goods and have already sent both a plane and a ship carrying aid to Venezuela.
Fernando Bolanos, with the Society of Saint Vincent de Paul, said the community has been deeply affected by the tragedy.
“The main thing is that we are deeply, deeply touched with what happened there. We are suffering a lot, and this is a way to carry on,” Bolanos said. “We were so happy with the World Cup and everything, and now everything changed.”
GEM said there is now a critical need for additional medical supplies as relief efforts continue.
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