Gay couple asked to reverse shirt at Dollywood

[GavG]

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) ????????? 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.
Source

I must say, I'm quite impressed that they handled this situation with such dignity, politely challenging the policy rather than making a huge scene about it. Too many times when stories like this come up, it's because people are suing the park or because the event erupted into a shouting match with park management.

I think this was just a misinterpretation of how the employee approached the "offensive" shirt. A simple change of words could have made this a non-issue. Good to see they are handling it the right way rather than make a big stink about it.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Originally posted by cjd

I must say, I'm quite impressed that they handled this situation with such dignity, politely challenging the policy rather than making a huge scene about it. Too many times when stories like this come up, it's because people are suing the park or because the event erupted into a shouting match with park management.

I know cause hate speech is no big deal right? Praise jesus.

[GavG]

This is not about religion. Leave Jesus out of it.

[Coasterkidmwm]

No religion and this wouldn't be a problem

[GavG]

I know plenty of non religious people that are against single sex relationships, so it is not a purely religious topic.

Freedom of speech...... Freedom of t-shirt?

Originally posted by HazBruv

Freedom of speech...... Freedom of t-shirt?

ok so if i put on a shirt that said "gay marrige is wrong and stupid" that would be fine then?

in anycase i agree with dollywood, i think there should be a certain dress code at theme parks includeing slogan shirts like this. yes be open about your view but i can se how that particular shirt could be taken offensively

Originally posted by gazag

Originally posted by HazBruv

Freedom of speech...... Freedom of t-shirt?

ok so if i put on a shirt that said "gay marrige is wrong and stupid" that would be fine then?

in anycase i agree with dollywood, i think there should be a certain dress code at theme parks includeing slogan shirts like this. yes be open about your view but i can se how that particular shirt could be taken offensively

I think it would be okay in SOME places.
I don't have a problem wearing a t-shirt saying "I HATE OBAMA"

I can see this offending others without religion. I (obviously) think this is wrong. But do I care about some one wearing a gay t-shirt? Hell no. In fact, it offends me that she wasn't wearing a FURRY PRIDE t-shirt.

Originally posted by HazBruv

Freedom of speech...... Freedom of t-shirt?

Dollywood is private property. If the shirt violated their dress code, they could of kicked them out of the park if they wanted to.

Yeah I feel like, straight or otherwise, if you wear a shirt with that slogan you have to know you just might cause a stir. That's called being a person, not being a member of any specific group. I see that they addressed it in a seemingly decent way, but if you ask me they just wanted to either make trouble or bring attention to their cause. Too bad Dollywood has to lose out from bad publicity because some people wanted to wear a shirt that can very easily be interpreted as not being at all family friendly.

^ I agree. Seemed like tehy were trying to put a message out and Dollywood, being a private owned park, didn't want political slogans at their park. I will have to say that while nothing bad happened, the person complaining about not being able to wear a poop that was in bad taste to be a little stupid.

[Coasterkidmwm]

10 dollars says they would allow the opposite viewpoint on a shirt.

I think there's a difference between "I'm for gay marriage" and "Marriage is gay"...especially considering how many people use the word "gay" with a negative connotation. One gives a clear viewpoint, whereas the other can be interpreted in more than one way, with some of those ways being inappropriate for a family park. Don't particularly care that much though, but I do find it annoying when people do things just to cause a stir, and others lose out because of it.

This is always a tricky topic.
-Asking to turn around T-Shirts
-Censoring photos on rides

I could see this being handled any way.

i am now so going to go to dollywood and wear my bunny-fur suit

but still
i think dollywood is in the wrong on this one.
i wore my flipping the bird tee shirt with angry birds on it to universal today and no one said any thing.

So because you wore a shirt that could potentially be considered offensive and got away with it, Dollywood is at fault for calling someone out who did the same thing? What kind of logic is that?

Originally posted by Coasterkidmwm

10 dollars says they would allow the opposite viewpoint on a shirt.

Twenty.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Originally posted by dcs221

So because you wore a shirt that could potentially be considered offensive and got away with it, Dollywood is at fault for calling someone out who did the same thing? What kind of logic is that?

Isn't wasn't offensive to begin with unless you're a bigot you dunce.

Smart guy I didn't say it's offensive, and it doesn't matter if it actually is. It matters that it could be considered offensive...if you have several mothers needing to have a talk with their kids because of one way the slogan may be interpreted (and especially when that way is clearly not unintentional...the designers of the shirt, and likely wearers, obviously wanted a bit of shock value) then I think it's inappropriate.

[mkingy]

Agree with dcs here. They weren't kicked out or asked to cover up because they were homosexual, what they were wearing was perceived as a violation of dress code because some people would find it offensive.

[Coasterkidmwm]

Originally posted by dcs221

Smart guy I didn't say it's offensive, and it doesn't matter if it actually is. It matters that it could be considered offensive...if you have several mothers needing to have a talk with their kids because of one way the slogan may be interpreted (and especially when that way is clearly not unintentional...the designers of the shirt, and likely wearers, obviously wanted a bit of shock value) then I think it's inappropriate.

Or you could say it means happy (because it does) and move on with your day instead of being a bigot.

[mkingy]

Originally posted by Coasterkidmwm

Originally posted by dcs221

Smart guy I didn't say it's offensive, and it doesn't matter if it actually is. It matters that it could be considered offensive...if you have several mothers needing to have a talk with their kids because of one way the slogan may be interpreted (and especially when that way is clearly not unintentional...the designers of the shirt, and likely wearers, obviously wanted a bit of shock value) then I think it's inappropriate.

Or you could say it means happy (because it does) and move on with your day instead of being a bigot.

It has multiple meanings. Your being ignorant if you plead that it just means happy. That's entirely the point here - The statement on the t-shirt is open to interpretation - of which some interpretations could be considered offensive by some.

http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/gay
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/diction ... ay_1?q=gay
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/gay