Hallmark Cards is under fire for changing a line of a traditional Christmas carol to remove the word "gay."
On its 2013 “Holiday Sweater” ornament, the greeting-card giant has altered “Don we now our gay apparel!” from the 16th century carol "Deck the Halls."
It now reads, "Don we now our FUN apparel."
Hallmark said it pulled the word "gay" because it is “open to misinterpretation,”
the Kansas City Star reports.
“When the lyrics to ‘Deck the Halls’ were translated from Gaelic and published in English back in the 1800s, the word ‘gay’ meant festive or merry," Hallmark said in a statement. "Today it has multiple meanings, which we thought could leave our intent open to misinterpretation."
The Missouri-based company's switcheroo has not received positive reviews.
"This sort of ridiculous action is what gives 'political correctness' a bad name. Only the most homophobic people would see it as relating to being gay," Star reader Patty Nolte posted on the newspaper's website.
"Completely unnecessary. This has 'middle management terror' written all over it," posted another reader, William Morris.
One commenter on Twitter cheekily asked, “Do they support fun marriage?”
The beloved carol, which is sung in churches around the world and has been recorded by such artists as Tony Bennett and Nat King Cole, begins:
Deck the hall with boughs of holly,
Fa la lalalalalalala.
'Tis the season to be jolly,
Fa la lalalalalalala.
Don we now our gay apparel
Troll the ancient Christmas carol,
Fa la lalalalalalala.
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