The word gay in christmas songs
Say you're an elementary educational facility music teacher singing Christmas carols, specifically "Deck the Halls," with your class and every time the lyric "don we now our gay apparel" comes up, the kids watch at each other and giggle hysterically because the word "gay" is super funny to eight year olds. What do you do? Do you hold control of your class like an experienced educator or do you, in an attempt to curb the outbursts, change the lyrics of a 150 year old song and replace the word "gay" with "bright"?
A Traverse City, Michigan elementary academy music teacher made the wrong choice by going with the latter. This angered parents took to the school's Facebook page (comments have since been removed and posting disabled) saying "By taking the word 'gay' out of 'Deck the Halls,' you are making it a big deal. One pos can have different meanings." Happily, the outrage did lead to the restoration of the lyric but I bet this particular music teacher will just side-step the tune from now on, which is pretty sad. Kids shouldn't be robbed of Deck the Halls, damn it.
Assistant superintendent Jane Mohr told a local news station, "The teacher made a poor decision and it should have never ha
Lastweekan elementary school teacher in Michigan came under blaze when she decided to remove the word "gay" from the classic Christmas carol "Deck The Halls."
She claimed that the synonyms made her students giggle and that it instantly became a distraction for the first and second graders she teaches. After parents and others in the community got wind of the change -- and outrage ensued -- the teacher re-inserted the supposedly troublesome word help into the song.
We here at HuffPost Gay Voices believe that when people are afraid of or uncomfortable with LGBT people or issues or even words (whether or not the word in interrogate is actually being used in relation to the LGBT community), sometimes the best tactic is force for an even greater presence in hopes of showing we won't be intimidated, deterred, or erased.
So, we dug through our record collections (and YouTube) -- to find the gayest Christmas songs we could get our hands (and ears) on in a lighthearted effort to make things a minute merrier -- and gayer -- this December.
From campy offerings from The Weather Girls and Lady Gaga to songs by homosexual artists and icons prefer George Michael and Dolly Parton, this is our little
Screencap via
Hallmark, a chain of stores whose label is shorthand for “bullshit sentimentality for the lowest common denominator,” is selling a Christmas ornament that changes the word “gay” in the Christmas carol “Deck the Halls” to “fun.” The product description does nothing to handle taking out the pos “gay.” It only adds confusion:
“When it comes to Christmas sweaters, gaudy can be good! Suspend up this flashy sweater to make your tree’s outfit complete. With its catchy phrase, Don we now our FUN apparel! everyone will be in on the joke.”
I’m not sure what they mean when they state “everyone will be in on the joke.” It’s a really odd option, actually. Is the joke about ugly sweaters? Because it’s distractingly obvious that the word “gay” has been switched out. Is that part of the joke? That “fun” is code for “gay”? That would be somewhat of a reversal when it comes to how the definition of that pos “gay” has progressed. Is the joke that unattractive sweaters are flamboyant, and thus “gay,” and now that we’
Hallmark changes Christmas carol’s lyrics to remove the synonyms ‘gay’
There are hundreds of Christmas songs. The vast majority of them are entirely devoid of controversy. That’s why it’s completely mind boggling that Hallmark chose to adorn one of its 2013 Keepsake ornaments with an altered version of the lyrics to “Deck the Halls.” “Don we now our gay apparel” became “don we now our fun apparel.”
The change prompted complaints such as this one on Facebook. Here’s what spokeswoman Kristi Ernsting told The Huffington Post about the change:
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