This Christmas, Children Finally Learn The Meaning Of 'Gay'

For decades the lyrics of “Deck the Halls” have been the primary way children learned that “gay” means “happy” in addition to “homosexual.” However, recently a teacher in Traverse City, Michigan got so fed up with kids her class snickering that she changed the lyric to “don we now our bright apparel.”

Clearly, one shouldn’t alter a classic Christmas carol just because kids can’t pipe down or resist the urge to insert Batman lyrics, but this story is actually striking because of its lack of a homophobic outcome: While watching this NBC News report we kept waiting for some crotchety town clerk to declare that kids shouldn’t even be singing the world “gay” because it has no place in a song about Jesus’ birthday, but everyone had a sensible reaction. The school principal talked to the teacher about their anti-bullying policy and turning the incident into a teachable moment, and parents said they’ll talk to their kids about what “gay” means. Congratulations Traverse City, Michigan, for being one of the few remaining bastions of reasonableness.