The Christmas carol classic “Deck the Halls” has new meaning at Hallmark this year as greeting card executives have censored for their new ornament collection a key word in the song that has been usurped by the gay community.
The company has removed the lyric “gay” on its 2013 ornament, which is fashioned in the shape of an “ugly” Christmas sweater, Fox News reported.
The popular holiday song includes the line: “Don we now our gay apparel.” But Hallmark has adjusted the lyrics, and its ornament line now reads: “Don we now our FUN apparel,” Fox News said.
Criticisms abound on the company’s Facebook page.
One poster wrote: “Hallmark is insinuating that gay people dress differently than anyone else. If I were gay, I would be more upset with that.” And another poster wrote that changing the word actually puts Hallmark in the uncomfortable spot of making a political statement that’s sure to cause controversy.
But the company said it was only trying to avoid a controversy.
The song actually dates to a time when the word “gay” was defined as festive or merry, the company said.
“Today,” Hallmark said in a statement, as Fox News reported, “it has multiple meanings, which we thought could leave our intent open to misinterpretation. The trend of wearing festively decorated Christmas sweaters to parties is all about fun, and this ornament is intended to play into that, so the planning team decided to say what we meant: fun. That’s the spirit we intended and the spirit in which we hope ornament buyers will take it.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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