Dollywood to lesbian: Change gay-marriage tee

sara1981

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Dollywood to lesbian: Change gay-marriage tee
Dollywood to lesbian: Change gay-marriage tee - CBS News

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - A lesbian couple is asking for changes at Dollywood after an employee asked one of the women to turn her T-shirt reading "marriage is so gay" inside-out to avoid offending others on a recent visit to the Tennessee theme park complex.

Olivier Odom and Jennifer Tipton said Tuesday they want the park to be more inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender families after Odom was asked to reverse her shirt when they visited Dollywood Splash Country next to the Pigeon Forge amusement park. The story was first reported by WBIR-TV in Knoxville.

Dollywood spokesman Pete Owens said on Tuesday that Dollywood is open to all families, but their dress code policy is to ask people with clothing or tattoos that could be considered offensive to change clothes or cover up.

Owens said the couple was not asked to leave and complied with the rules to reverse the shirt when asked.

"The park is open every day to everybody," Owens said. "We try to provide an environment for families of all shapes and sizes to enjoy themselves.

Owens said park officials were discussing the matter and would speak with the couple directly.

Odom said that they visited the water park July 9 with friends and their friends' two children when she was asked by a person at the front gate to turn her shirt inside out because it was a family park.

Odom said she complied so as not to make a scene in front of the children, but felt offended.

"That's what we found so offensive — that he said it was a family park," Tipton said. "Families come in a wide range of definitions these days and we were with our family."

The two said they felt they needed to file a complaint with Dollywood because they believed it was important to stand up for their beliefs in marriage equality.

"If marriage equality is going to happen, it's not going to happen if people sit at home quietly," Odom said.

Odom said they understand the park can have dress code policies, but she felt Dollywood needed to make their policies clear and provide better training for employees when determining what is considered offensive.

Odom and Tipton are not legally married, but held a ceremony last year in North Carolina. They wrote an email to the park asking the park "to implement policies that are inclusive of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people; conduct staff sensitivity training; and issue a public statement indicating that the park is inclusive of all families."

Owens said the couple's complaints have sparked discussion at the park about the dress code, a policy that park employees deal with frequently because of the thousands of visitors every year.
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i didnt know that policy in dollywood had strict must one woman and one man but not same sex couples,transgenders and bisexual but dollywood not allowed have crazy policy as same sex couples for examples i respect that and also cover tattoo clothes if you work for dollywood obey rules and dont use body piercings..
 
wowie. sheesh. will be very careful when enter dollywood.. :)
 
This is strange because Dolly has a large gay fan following. She appears in gay publications and she's known as a supporter of gay rights. I hope that she corrects this immediately.
 
sallylou said:
This is strange because Dolly has a large gay fan following. She appears in gay publications and she's known as a supporter of gay rights. I hope that she corrects this immediately.
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Definitely, she contributed a song to the film "Transamerica" too.

I'd be curious to find out why the shirt was considered offensive. Was it because it was a pro-marriage shirt? Was it because the person thought it was using the word gay as a pejorative word against marriage? (kids use "gay" as a negative word). very odd.
 
I suspect that a crazy visitor complained and that a manager was trying to appease him by asking the gay person to hide the message. It seems totally out of line with Dolly's social and political views.
 
Well there is the huge movement right now to try to get people to stop using the word gay in phrases or sentences like that....it was started by the gay community. So when a gay couple is seen in public with one wearing a shirt that says "marriage is so gay" does that seem a little hypocritical?
 
Parton's statement reads: "I am truly sorry for the hurt or embarrassment regarding the gay and lesbian t-shirt incident at Dollywood's Splash Country recently. Everyone knows of my personal support of the gay and lesbian community. Dollywood is a family park and all families are welcome." Parton adds that the policies on clothing or signs with profanity or controversial messages are in place to protect the person wearing the shirt and keep disturbances at the park to a minimum. Parton adds, "I am looking further into the incident and hope and believe it was more policy than insensitivity. I am very sorry it happened at all."
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Dolly Apologizes to Lesbian Couple | News | The Advocate

I saw her in concert the other night, the crowd was about half LGBT and half multi-decade-long fans.
 
Wirelessly posted (droid)

Glad to see that she's addressing this.
 
Dollywood officials respond to lesbian couple
Dollywood officials respond to lesbian couple - KATV Channel 7 - The Spirit of Arkansas:

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Dollywood officials have offered a refund to a lesbian couple after an employee asked one of the women to turn her T-shirt reading "marriage is so gay" inside-out to avoid offending others during a recent visit to the Tennessee theme park complex.

Park officials were going to meet with the couple in person, but the meeting was called off when Jennifer Tipton and Olivier Odom wanted to bring a representative from Campaign for Southern Equality, a gay rights organization.

Dollywood park spokesman Pete Owens told The Knoxville News Sentinel (Dolly Parton responds to Dollywood Splash Country T-shirt controversy » Knoxville News Sentinel) that the park didn't want to meet with the representative, who wasn't at the park at the time of the incident, so they sent the couple a letter and gave them a refund.

The couple complained after a park worker at Splash Country last month asked Odom to reverse her shirt to avoid offending other visitors.

Owens provided the couple with a statement from Dolly Parton, who said she was sorry for any hurt or embarrassment they felt over the incident.

"Everyone knows my personal support of the gay and lesbian community," Parton's statement said. "Dollywood is a family park and all families are welcome."

Owens had previously said the park has a dress code policy to ask people with clothing or tattoos that could be considered offensive to change or cover up, and that the couple was not asked to leave and they complied with the request to turn the shirt inside out.

Odom said she was surprised by the attention the family's story has received.

"Clearly it's a conversation that needed to be had or there wouldn't have been so much interest in it," she said.
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i have a question...is it still acceptable to use the word gay in the original way? maybe my family is weird/backwards but we still do..i was talking about my daughters gaily colored outfit last week and i was thinking about that. thanks!
 
No because the term 'gay' has taken on a whole new meaning based on the context that it is used in. If you said that sentence in public, people would be thinking "Well if you didn't like the clothes, why did you buy them?". Even if you meant it in a positive way. People don't think of the original term when they hear 'gay'. They often associate it with 'queer', 'faggot', 'dyke', 'homosexual', 'lesbian/lesbo/lezzie' and other terms I can't think of right now.

It amazing how our society has warped a single word around to go from a positive, to an absolute negative.
 
Dixie said:
No because the term 'gay' has taken on a whole new meaning based on the context that it is used in. If you said that sentence in public, people would be thinking "Well if you didn't like the clothes, why did you buy them?". Even if you meant it in a positive way. People don't think of the original term when they hear 'gay'. They often associate it with 'queer', 'faggot', 'dyke', 'homosexual', 'lesbian/lesbo/lezzie' and other terms I can't think of right now.

It amazing how our society has warped a single word around to go from a positive, to an absolute negative.
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Yeah, you got that right....teenagers often quote "that's gay"...whenever talking about what someone is wearing....acting...etc., and they feel or acknowledge that person to be lesbian/queer.

It's used a lot here in the South...one of my sons (who is a skateboarder) loves purple, bright blue, burgundy jeans...even bright-colored t-shirts....my other son is sort of a "jock", wears denim shorts and blue jeans...and always thinks his brother is wearing clothes that are "gay"....Altho' both of my sons are straight...
 
thats a shame...i think we should take it back and make it a positive thing again! i mean, it could still mean gay as in gay people of course but its a good word!
 
sallylou said:
I suspect that a crazy visitor complained and that a manager was trying to appease him by asking the gay person to hide the message. It seems totally out of line with Dolly's social and political views.
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Agreed. She has always projected tolerance and acceptance. And just look at her self deprecating humor.
 
frankiesmom said:
i have a question...is it still acceptable to use the word gay in the original way? maybe my family is weird/backwards but we still do..i was talking about my daughters gaily colored outfit last week and i was thinking about that. thanks!
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Sure. It is just a matter of contextual meaning.
 
Hi all. I was actually working in Dollywood, with one of the shows there, when this incident happened. The park didn't ask the the two women to change the t-shirt, they asked them to please turn it inside out. This is part of their policy for everyone who visits the park.

While working at one of the theaters I saw several of the ushers/Dollywood employees ask other people to turn their shirts inside out as well if it was something that could be considered controversial to anyone in the park. That's why I think that clothing that announces your beliefs to the world shouldn't be brought into an atmosphere like a theme park.
 
What is the point of living in a country that believes in individual freedom and liberty that guarantees free speech if you can only say what you truly believe in the privacy of your own home?

People should not be offended by the beliefs of others. They should only be offended by the infringement of those beliefs.
 
Lennaire said:
Hi all. I was actually working in Dollywood, with one of the shows there, when this incident happened. The park didn't ask the the two women to change the t-shirt, they asked them to please turn it inside out. This is part of their policy for everyone who visits the park.

While working at one of the theaters I saw several of the ushers/Dollywood employees ask other people to turn their shirts inside out as well if it was something that could be considered controversial to anyone in the park. That's why I think that clothing that announces your beliefs to the world shouldn't be brought into an atmosphere like a theme park.
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.... But YOU (NOT the theme park) deemed it controversial. I see shirts that have confederate flags all the time at theme and water parks. I bet you have them too. Confederate flags can be controversial, but YOU probably do not think it's controversial. In fact, I am willing to wager that you allow shirts that contain the following: sexist jokes, picture of women in small bikinis, marijuana jokes, drunk jokes, and so on. See my point?
 
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