ANAHEIM – When Gay Days Anaheim started in 1998 with 2,500 participants in red shirts attending Disneyland, the park would accommodate offended guests by refunding tickets and handing out white T-shirts to those who unknowingly showed up wearing red, too, said Eddie Shapiro, a founder of the unofficial annual get-together.

“They’ve come to realize that those kind of accommodations are inappropriate,” said Shapiro, co-author of “Queens in the Kingdom: The Ultimate Gay and Lesbian Guide to the Disney Theme Parks.”

“All guests are welcome, and that’s the position on it,” Shapiro said.

Now, Disney openly welcomes roughly 35,000 people from 44 states during Gay Days every October, partly sponsored by the Disneyland Resort’s employee diversity group, PRIDE. Participants visit the theme parks, take in lectures in town and eat in groups.

The official Disney fan club, D23, sets up a booth at Gay Days, while Disney stores sell rainbow-colored cakes and pins to represent gay pride. Mini Gay Day, which draws a more local audience, is set for March 29.

Over the years, the Walt Disney Co. has evolved in its support of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities.

That support was punctuated recently when Disney decided to cut off donations, beginning next year, to the Boy Scouts in a narrowly focused program because the youth organization bans gay adult leaders.

Disney has tightened an incentive that encourages employees to volunteer. When an employee reaches a certain number of hours, Disney donates money to an organization of the employee’s choice.

For example, Disney employees who volunteer a minimum of 10 hours a year can earn a $100 donation to go to a charity. Those who volunteer 75 hours or more qualify for charity grants of up to $1,000.

According to Disney’s policy, a group receiving a donation can’t discriminate on any level, including sexual orientation.

Along with the Boy Scouts, other groups barred from Disney donations include religious organizations and labor unions. Disney officials declined to comment, so it is unclear what prompted the new stance with the Boy Scouts.

Locally, this has no practical effect, because Disneyland Resort has not provided direct donations to the Boy Scouts in recent years.

And no other company has cut off funding in recent years to the Orange County Council of the Boy Scouts of America, which has 30,000 members, said Jeff Herrmann, the council’s president.

Disney officials long have offered employee benefits to same-sex partners, began offering Fairy Tale Weddings to same-sex partners for commitment ceremonies in 2007, and last year signed a court brief supporting same-sex marriage.

Former Disneyland Resort President George Kalogridis, who now heads Walt Disney World, is openly gay.

“Over the years, Disney has really shown that they’re not against the LGBT community and always showed signs of inclusiveness, so we think this is a good step forward,” said Yumi Hirata, treasurer of Orange County LGBT Pride, in response to Disney’s stance with the Boy Scouts.

Esmael Adibi, a Chapman University economist, said that Disney’s action buys the company some favorable publicity in the realm of public opinion, which has shifted toward greater acceptance of gays and lesbians.

With its vast size and broad customer base, Adibi said that Disney’s narrow policy change will unlikely have any significant financial impact on the theme parks or the company as a whole.

“I don’t think it’s going to bring more business,” Adibi said. “And even if it does bring more, it’s going to be very small and insignificant.”

By making such a decision, he added, Disney is “just being politically correct,” which might cost it some patronage from members of the Boy Scouts while enhancing its image as a progressive company that’s open to all.

Contact the writer: 714-704-3793 or stully@ocregister.com