Parents Outraged Over Teacher Removing Word ‘Gay’ from ‘Deck the Halls’
Christmas carols help us get in the mood to celebrate the holidays. But would they have the same meaning if we changed a few words? Parents of students at an elementary school in Michigan say, "No." A music teacher at Cherry Knoll Elementary School in Traverse City decided to change the word "gay" to "bright" in "Deck the Halls" for the children's Christmas concert. Her reasoning for the switch? First- and second-graders would not stop giggling when they sang the word "gay." Several parents were so upset about the change they went to the school's Facebook page to express their opinions. One parent said, "By taking the word 'gay' out of 'Deck the Halls,' you are making it a big deal. One word can have different meanings." Another parent voiced, "Can one word in a 150-year-old classic Christmas carol really offend someone?" The negative comments have since been deleted from the school's Facebook page, and wall posts have been disabled. Cherry Knoll Principal Chris Parker is on the parents' side, saying, "This would have been a great opportunity to teach that 'gay' has more than one meaning and is not a bad word." In response to the controversy over the word change, the original lyrics have now been changed back....
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