Denver’s annual Parade of Lights will take place on December 3rd and 4th. This year parade organizers have decided to ban the words “Merry Christmas” from all floats; Christmas songs have also been banned. The chief sponsor of the parade is KUSA-TV, the local NBC affiliate.
Catholic League president William Donohue spoke to this issue today:
“Michael Krikorian, the parade’s spokesman, explained the decision to discriminate against Christians by saying, ‘we want to avoid that specific religious message out of respect for other religions in the region.’ The specific religious message that he was referring to, but could not bring himself to say, is ‘Merry Christmas.’ Unfortunately, he does not say which people in the Denver area find it disrespectful to celebrate Christmas. Is there a problem with local Jews? If so, he should say so. Perhaps the Muslims are angry. If so, he should say so. Or maybe he’s just lying—maybe the only bigots in town are the parade organizers.
“It most certainly is a lie to maintain that the parade officials have decided to ban all religious themes from the parade. As a matter of fact, they are honoring homosexual and lesbian American Indians as ‘Holy People.’ The implication is that straight Indian guys and gals are less than holy. Either that or gay anti-Christians have hijacked the parade.
“For NBC to sponsor this bigotry is the real story. In its packet called ‘Volunteer Instructions and Policies,’ it notes that ‘the parade has a no tolerance alcohol and drug policy.’ It can now add Christians to the list.
“I am writing to Bob Wright, the chairman of NBC, to let him know how his Denver affiliate is sullying NBC’s good name. In the meantime, the Catholic League is trying to find a holy gay Indian in Denver who is willing to sing ‘Joy to the World’ during the parade. What a conundrum that would be for parade officials.”
