Gay couple asked to reverse "marriage is so gay" shirt at Dollywood

The park was within its right to make the request, but obviously the screw up is that the employee said the shirt wasn't "family friendly." That's a loaded term just asking for controversy.

T-Shirt story (true)..

Couple years ago I was at GAdv queued for Toro. I struck up a conversation with a really cute girl in line. Another young lady in her party, who was maybe 15-16 years old, had her back to me. The back of her shirt read: "....When You've Got An A** Like This?" Couple minutes later, she turned around and I could read the front: "Who Needs Big T**s...."

I saw the party again inside Skull Mountain about 2 hours later. The girl was now wearing a Superman logo shirt. I've often wondered if someone complained to Staff and they forced her to wear it (likely,) if a Staff member took it upon him/herself to make her change (likely,) or if she simply bought the Supe shirt (not bloody likely!)

Oddly enough, I saw two other interesting shirts that day. One was on a very slovenly looking fellow (no, NOT me!) and read: "I MAY NOT BE A GYNECOLOGIST, BUT I'LL BE GLAD TO TAKE A LOOK."

The other was for sale in one of the shops: "AN IRISHMAN WALKS OUT OF A BAR. NO, SERIOUSLY..IT COULD HAPPEN!"

Jeff, family friendly is in the eye of the beholder. It seems to me that the couple wanted the attention by wearing that shirt in a family friendly amusement park such as Dollywood. The employee was in the right to do such but the park will cow down to the gays and lesbians in the long run.

"Marriage is so gay" is a statement that one may need to think about for a second to understand it's true meaning. At face value, it can easily be misinterpreted as gay being a derogatory term, similar to "you're so gay".

I wouldn't take the term "family friendly" as anything against GLBT people. I see "family friendly" meaning an environment free from swearing, bigotry, gay slurs, etc. But at the same time, I'm straight, so not as sensitive to the bigotry that they may face on a daily basis. I just don't see this as one of those cases.

Not surprising given the very conservative nature of a significant portion of Dollywood's clientele. Jeff nailed it with the larger issue being the way the situation was (possibly) handled. A shirt with profanities is easy to handle, "Reverse it now, it's offensive".

A shirt that contains no profanities, and uses mild double entendre to advance a political viewpoint, that unfortunately is anathema to a large swath of a park's target base, that's much more touchy.

I'll also say I enjoyed reading the PR guy twist himself in knots making his statement. Must be tough to be in that spot.

Majorcut said:
but the park will cow down to the gays and lesbians in the long run.

Cow down? I don't want to hear about what kinky stuff those Tennesseeans are into.

Its surprising because it actually seems hypocritical. Don't use the term in that way when you don't want others to use it as such either.

African Americans use a certain word known as slander against them - to each other all the time. The meaning to them coming from the right person is not the same as the term used from someone they don't know.

Just as such, if you're gay don't use the term (verbally or in text) around people who wont know what you mean. Because then its not like you're able to defend yourself and say "I don't mean it like that" because if that's the case, everyone can use it and just make up a meaning.

Bold but stupid move on their part. And in Dollywood no less, part of the Bible belt.

As someone else said, don't kick the ant hill. And Ill add, don't use the very term you're trying to get everyone to stop using. That's just asinine.

Wow, really? You don't see the clever irony in the shirt? I think it's brilliant. If you get it, it's not even political, it's just kind of funny. Furthermore, intolerance and ignorance knows no geography. Gay people live in Tennessee, too, and as such, I don't give anyone a free pass for being ignorant.

Real said:
Its surprising because it actually seems hypocritical. Don't use the term in that way when you don't want others to use it as such either.

African Americans use a certain word known as slander against them - to each other all the time. The meaning to them coming from the right person is not the same as the term used from someone they don't know.

Just as such, if you're gay don't use the term (verbally or in text) around people who wont know what you mean. Because then its not like you're able to defend yourself and say "I don't mean it like that" because if that's the case, everyone can use it and just make up a meaning.

Bold but stupid move on their part. And in Dollywood no less, part of the Bible belt.

As someone else said, don't kick the ant hill. And Ill add, don't use the very term you're trying to get everyone to stop using. That's just asinine.

Think you're missing the point. The point is that now marriage actually is "gay", at least in several states, the District of Columbia, and several other countries.

and in the sense of the t-shirt, it's not "re-appropriating" a term, like the certain word you refer to. It's a statement of fact that plays into the READER's usage of the word. From a marketing perspective, actually quite brilliant.

Dollywood isn't catching any breaks here, as the story is now the featured image on the Yahoo News Home page. OUCH.

I too find the "so gay" portion of the shirt to be hypocritical. They even run commercials to "educate" people that it is offensive. So if they find the term "so gay" offensive, they even in a clever twist, it is still offensive.

We were at SDC yesterday and even I (born again christian) found the gospel messages a bit over the top for a place that I paid to go to.

Of the relative many GLBT people I know, not one of them finds the word "gay" offensive.

If you're responding to me, get the quote right. "so gay" not just "gay" is the offensive term they are talking about.

How do your friends feel about that, my GLBT friends do find it offensive.

If you were not responding to me, then carry on and ignore this post :)

DaveStroem said:
I too find the "so gay" portion of the shirt to be hypocritical. They even run commercials to "educate" people that it is offensive. So if they find the term "so gay" offensive, they even in a clever twist, it is still offensive.\

So the women who were forced to turn their shirts inside out ran commercials educating people on the offensiveness of the term gay?

DaveStroem said:
If you're responding to me, get the quote right.

Sorry for the confusion. Yes, I was referring to "so gay".

And no, they do not find it offensive in the least.

No, they are PSA put out by the Ad Counsel.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEpBYKOs3ys
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nasp3euSqjM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ejCqgAKZ-M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9Jf59TGxaU

So there is a governing body for all GLBT, that reflect the feelings and opinions of all GLBT?

I think people would be offended by any term when it's offered in a derogatory or malicious way. The question is whether the intent of this shirt was clear enough not to be offensive by anyone reading it at the park. I'm not sure it was.

I think it was best said in the other closed thread that the irony may not be clear for everyone. For example, I would imagine many wouldn't have realized the person wearing it is a lesbian.

^ Everything Carrie said. :)

On the back of the shirt did it read "not that there's anything wrong with that."?