Dollywood refunds lesbian couple after shirt flap

[August 03, 2011]  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 inside out to hide the slogan "marriage is so gay."

Park officials called off a meeting with the couple 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 (http://bit.ly/mSMwyV) 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 last month asked Odom to reverse her shirt to avoid offending other visitors.

[Associated Press]

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