At this year’s Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the floats and balloons weren’t the only things making headlines. A tradition at the parade is to start the live coverage with performances from Broadway plays to get everyone in the mood for the vocal performances to come and to show off the Theater Industry’s best. One such musical was The Prom, a story about a school in Indiana who decides to cancel their prom because one student plans to bring their same sex partner. In the final number, both attend prom and they decide to share a kiss. This kiss was performed on live television, and a controversy began.
A right wing account began the firestorm with this tweet:
Millions of small children just watched two girls kiss and had their innocence broken this morning. @nbc and @Macys just blindsided parents who expected this to be a family program, so they could push their agenda on little kids. #macysthanksgivingdayparade #MacysDayParade pic.twitter.com/EmCLSfNmAj
— ForAmerica (@ForAmerica) November 22, 2018
Some conservative parents were outraged by the display:
#macysthanksgivingdayparade Just had 2 girls kissing. Could have had a warning so parents could be aware!!!! Poor choice #NBC
— Theresa McMillin (@mctwinsmom) November 22, 2018
Other parents had to have conversations with their children they didn’t plan:
It is sad I just had to change the channel from the #macysthanksgivingdayparade because my 5 yr old is asking me why the girl is wearing a tie and holding hands with the other girl during the “The Prom” number on @TODAYshow.
— Cissie Graham Lynch (@CissieGLynch) November 22, 2018
Meanwhile, LGBT+ advocacy groups applauded the choice to show the number:
A groundbreaking kiss is definitely something to be thankful for! Thanks, @ThePromMusical #macysthanksgivingdayparade #TheProm #LGBTQ https://t.co/ksmPTnDxEV
— The Advocate (@TheAdvocateMag) November 22, 2018
Some people hoped a peaceful message could come from this:
It’s sad how many people are outraged by their kids seeing two girls kissing on the #MacysThanksgivingDayParade. Teach your kids love, not hate….. there’s already too much of that in our world. #Equality ♥️
— Britt Baker (@RealBrittBaker) November 22, 2018
While others decided to relish other’s pain:
LOL-ing at all the Mike Pence’s out there losing their shit over the pro-LGBT performance on the #macysthanksgivingdayparade rn 🙌🏻
— Joanna Jean (@PetitRougeVin) November 22, 2018
Eventually, the kiss became the main topic of discussion around the hashtag (#macysthanksgivingdayparade) and dinner table conversation around the country.