The 21 Gayest Christmas Songs

Last week an elementary school teacher in Michigan came under fire when she decided to remove the word "gay" from the classic Christmas carol "Deck The Halls."

She claimed that the word made her students giggle and that it quickly became a distraction for the first and second graders she teaches. After parents and others in the community got wind of the change -- and outrage ensued -- the teacher re-inserted the supposedly troublesome word back into the song.

We here at HuffPost Gay Voices believe that when people are afraid of or uncomfortable with LGBT people or issues or even words (whether or not the word in question is actually being used in relation to the LGBT community), sometimes the best tactic is push for an even greater presence in hopes of showing we won't be intimidated, deterred, or erased.

So, we dug through our record collections (and YouTube) -- to find the gayest Christmas songs we could get our hands (and ears) on in a lighthearted effort to make things a little merrier -- and gayer -- this December.

From campy offerings from The Weather Girls and Lady Gaga to songs by gay artists and icons like George Michael and Dolly Parton, this is our little gift to you this holiday season -- and the perfect playlist for a festive gay get-together.

Check out our selections in the following slideshow, rank them from corniest to most classic, and tell us if we missed one of your favorites in the comments section below.

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Comments

[Leguntingled]

04:12 PM on 12/28/2011

Thank you HP for the vid of Bowie and Crosby. I've only heard the song a handful of times and loved it. The VID IS WONDERFUL.

Thank you!

[verylargehat]

12:31 AM on 12/27/2011

Meet Me In St. Louis always makes me cry. I just love that movie and I love the song in this list.

[Bob Kellerman]

10:43 PM on 12/26/2011

Maybe this clarification will help some of the folks who posted disgrunted comments....

This is the Gay Voices Page
-- someone Gay decided these songs have a special affinity for Gay people

NO ONE robbed straight people of the songs, tried to label them Gay to annoy you, etc

"I'll Be Home for Christmas" and "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas", for instance, might strike a note with folks who no longer have a home because they are Gay and had to leave

Some are just campy -- whatever! It's a list that someone made, that's all

[Orlando Solis]

11:46 AM on 12/26/2011

Oh, oh,..Sometimes I get good feeling, yeah. I get a feeling that I never, never know I had before, no, no, I get a good feeling!

[Colin Daniel]

11:24 AM on 12/26/2011

The London's Gay Men's Choir was brilliant. People have to me comfortable with who their are before they criticize another person life style.

[truegroundspeed]

10:24 AM on 12/26/2011

You can keep L, B, T, but the term "gay" has been on loan long enough. It's time for it to be returned to the general population.

[robjh1]

10:10 AM on 12/26/2011

As opposed to the straightest songs? And by the way this explanation: "We here at HuffPost Gay Voices believe that when people are afraid of or uncomfortable with LGBT people or issues or even words (whether or not the word in question is actually being used in relation to the LGBT community), sometimes the best tactic is push for an even greater presence in hopes of showing we won't be intimidated, deterred, or erased." Is just a cop out. You wouldn't say the "jewist" or "blackest" songs.

[Bob Kellerman]

09:54 PM on 12/26/2011

Actually, many of the Christmas songs are Jewish or Black, if you count who wrote them

[datdude]

09:56 AM on 12/26/2011

That's so racist..........opps, I meant sexist.

[GeoNorth]

09:45 AM on 12/26/2011

"I've Got Some Presents for Santa" by Billy Mumy & Sarah Taylor. It ain't gay but it's very, very happy! VERY!

[Son of Liberty 1765]

09:35 AM on 12/26/2011

If a Republican said "gayest" it would be all over.

[Bob Kellerman]

09:56 PM on 12/26/2011

Yes, it would be an INSULT

As when a Gay person said "MOST REPUBLICAN"

[bmcombs]

09:25 AM on 12/26/2011

People seem to be very upset about this list and its term of the "gayest" christmas songs. I don't see it as a negative thing at all - these are some campy songs with cult-like followings. It may be a stereotype about gay people - but it is one with standing. I think this list is funny and accurate.

As for people claiming that saying christmas songs are "gay" in the context it is being used is like using the "n" word - really? When did gay become a bad word? What am I supposed to call myself now?

[PunisherWarJournal]

02:21 AM on 12/26/2011

Perhaps it's like the 'N' word... HP thinks they can get away with it, because they've got "gay cred".

[Rex Hungus]

01:12 AM on 12/26/2011

I see the point you are trying to make in this article and in a way its ok...but there is just so much labeling with the word "gay" that overall the article doesn't really help. I think of music in terms of like and dislike...not gay or non gay. I love Queen and think Freddie Mercury is one of the greatest singers in rock history, but I don't see their music as gay just because he was.

Its like the whole issue of "gay marriage", why does it have to be called gay marriage. To me its a form of segregation. Marriage is marriage, so tired of these categories that we have to have. What a great way to make someone feel inferior.

Anyhow enough of my soapbox. I'm just a hetero who's tired of a society that makes such a big deal out of something that isn't anyone else business and is not a big deal. Sorry soapbox again.

[Sybil Disobedience]

05:51 AM on 12/26/2011

it is all abhout money and selling ads nothing more...

[Bob Kellerman]

09:57 PM on 12/26/2011

THERE WOULD BE NO "GAY MARRIAGE" if Gays could marry, would there?

It would be just "marriage" --- that's the point

[shirleyfeeney]

01:03 AM on 12/26/2011

As a teacher, she should know better. Teach that it actually means happy, festive and merry. Duh. I remember having spelling bees in the third grade and giggling at the word "kiss". It's a phase. Most grow out of it.

[zbronto]

01:00 AM on 12/26/2011

Stereotyping and homophobia. Nice, Huffington Post. Way to help fix the problem of the use of "gay" as a derogatory statement by using it to describe not one, but twenty-two of the worst Christmas songs recorded.