Unless you failed all summer long to turn on the radio, watch television or step foot outside of your apartment, I shouldn't have to explain that a sign displayed outside of Havens Corners Church in Blacklick, Ohio, reading, "I kissed a girl and I liked it, then I went to Hell" is an attack on Katy Perry's infectious single "I Kissed a Girl." (A sampling of the lyrics for cave dwellers: "I kissed a girl and I liked it/ The taste of her cherry ChapStick/ I kissed a girl just to try it/ I hope my boyfriend don't mind it.")
Pastor David Allison explained that the sign was meant as a warning to teens: "If anyone's seen the video and understands how lewd and suggestive the video is for this song, that is not something young people should go toward." Note that for all her talk, Katy Perry does not actually kiss a girl in the music video for the song.
Now, I'm not prepared to passionately defend the song. Its burlesque beat has many a time pulled me to the dance floor, but I don't exactly find the lyrics about faux same-sex experimentation amid defensive heterosexuality, you know, politically inspiring or even inoffensive. In fact, I would find the song much more enjoyable with bland lyrics along the lines of "I ate a pie and I liked it/ The taste of cher-ry fill-ing." That way I could enjoy the pop fizz minus the, to my palette, subtle hetero-sexist aftertaste.
But, of course, the folks behind the church sign find the song to be an outrageous endorsement of homosexuality. They would find any lyrics short of threatening eternal damnation for kissing a girl -- even if it's just an "innocent" and "experimental game" -- unacceptable. Gosh, just imagine the circle of hell they reserve for girls who kiss girls because they actually like girls.
(Via Feministing)
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