Michigan Students to Don “Gay Apparel” After All

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

December 06 2011 2:59 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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After a bit of controversy, students in an elementary school in Traverse City, Mich., will once again be singing about donning "gay apparel."

Chris Parker (pictured), principal of Cherry Knoll Elementary School, says the line in "Deck the Halls" has been restored, the Associated Press reports. The school's music teacher had changed "gay apparel" to "bright apparel" because students giggled at the use of "gay."

Parker had told local TV station WPBN Monday that he was disappointed with the teacher's move, and he subsequently announced the restoration of the original lyric as the students prepare for a holiday concert later this month. He said the matter constituted a teachable moment for students and staff.

Several people who commented online on the station's story called the teacher's decision ridiculous. One wrote, "Can one word in a 150-year-old classic Christmas carol really offend someone?"

Some wondered how the students -- first- and second-graders -- would know that "gay" meant homosexual, while others pointed out that the children were probably giggling simply because they perceived it as a taboo word. Only a few comments were overtly homophobic; one said the use of "gay" to mean homosexual was a way to "distroy" the English language.