School bans 'gay' kookaburra

2 Sep 2010, 10:46 am   -   Source: AAP
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Kookaburra - the merry merry king of the bush. (Getty)

Kookaburra - the merry merry king of the bush. (Getty)

A Melbourne school has dropped the word gay from the classic children's song Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.

A Melbourne school has dropped the word gay from the classic children's song Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree.

Principal Garry Martin of Le Page Primary School in Cheltenham says instead of "Gay your life must be" the children now sing "Fun your life must be".

"All I was doing, relatively innocently, was substituting one word because I knew if we sing `Gay your life must be' the kids will roll around the floor in fits of laughter," Mr Martin told Fairfax Radio.

He said that at his school children sometimes used the word gay in a disparaging way in the schoolyard.

"For example, if a boy is not particularly good at sport and they will refer to that child as gay," he said.

"They have a vague idea how it can be used but they don't really know the full extent of it."

Earlier this year, the 75-year-old song was involved in a legal controversy over a riff used in the Men At Work international hit Down Under.

In an interview on the Nine Network, Mr Martin was backtracking on his decision, saying maybe he should have discussed the true meaning of the word with the children.
 
"In hindsight that is what I probably should have done, I just didn't realise the implications," he said.

"I wasn't trying to incite or insult gay people, or trying to violate copyright of Larrikin Music, it was just a decision at the time that I thought would minimise a disruptive atmosphere with grades one and and two."
 

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Your Comments

hehe

craig - from bankstown, 2 years ago

should ban gay principals

Gay kookaburra

oncewas - from bribie island, 2 years ago

David, i think you have succeeded. Get a sense of humour.

What a yawn

David - from Glebe, 2 years ago

This is just so boring, ordinary and mediocre. Is it completely unnewsworthy. Hey I know, let's find something utterly pedestrian, fill it full of hot air and try to make a mountain out of a molehill. The mere fact that this even got printed shows that those perpetuating this hum drum boringly insignificant nonsense are at the same level as the giggly kids in class. Get a life!

Gay kookaburra

oncewas - from bribie island, 2 years ago

Two people disagreeing with my comment? It is all true. What are you disagreeing with? My once being gay or the advent of the homosexual lobby, or my becoming happy?

Gay kookaburra

oncewas - from bribie island, 2 years ago

I used to be ' gay' and then the homosexual lobby hit town and i had to become ' happy' instead.

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