Sorry, but there are so many crazy responses here I hardly know where to start.
There are no crazy responses here. There are opinions of people, some of which are sensible, logical and based on a world view of diversity, and some from a point of view that is close minded. But none are crazy.
First, Hooters is just a restaurant with a gimmick and nothing more. I doubt that those most vocal about Hooters have ever been to a Hooters. The waitresses are just cute young gals in t-shirts and shorts. I've never heard of an age limit in any U.S. location. You don't have to be big chested to work there, many of the waitresses are not, they just have these fun personalities. There is nothing at all that sexualizes women in the restaurants.
This is an ignorant, deliberately disingenuous statement. Hooters is street slang for breast. That the general waitress uniform features skin tight tanks, tied in a manner to accentuate the breasts as a sexual object, is sexualizing. That you are claiming not to understand that points to a lack of insight.
Second, instead of people saying "gee it's too bad you were exposed to inappropriate t-shirts" (which you know are there if you've ever been to a Gay Days, along with inappropriate behavior) there was a wailing and gnashing of teeth, "straight people do it too!" Everybody else does it is never a justification.
No wailing and our teeth are fine thanks. The point that was being made, and quite well thank you, is that the sayings on tshirts can be offensive to anyone, depending on their personal point of view. Again, deliberately refusing to acknowledge the sexual overtness in the saying of some tshirts worn by teen, and heterosexuals does nothing to support the position you are presenting. In fact, it turns the allegations you are making right back on you.
Third, the way to sway public opinion in favor of supporting gay civil rights is not to get in people's faces and go out of your way to offend or shock them.
Yes, that is such a comprehensively good statement. I'm sure Martin Luther King, Junior, Rosa Parks, Nelson Mandella, Jane Adams, et all all agree with that statement. When your civil liberties are less than the next person's, lets see you not "get in anyone's face." I had the displeasure of being on Pirates with a boat of about half gay and half families. The gay men who were all together were loud and disruptive the entire ride, from loud sexual jokes at the characters to singing a lewd version of the song. In the 43 years I've been riding Pirates, I've never, ever had that experience on a day that wasn't Gay Day and I've seen on Gay Day three separate times. And don't get me started on what I observed on Small World.
And we were on POC, and had the entire experience ruined by three heterosexual women with cameras and flashes. Your point? There are rude people everywhere. Speak up and ask them to stop, or not. Request another go on the attraction from a cast member (which we have done) and explain why... it's all down to what you do with yourself, not what others do.
It is wrong to wear offensive, sexually charged t-shirts at any time. "I got crabs from Dirty D1ck's" isn't dirty unless you have a dirty mind as everyone understands Dirty D1ck's is a crab restaurant.
One more time, deliberately refusing to acknowledge the sexually charged content only makes this statement silly. When I first saw the tshirt about crabs and dirty dicks, I didn't know it was a restaurant! Did I figure it out? Of course, but it made it no less offensive from my point of view.
I think the burden is even higher for the gay community. How about holding a Gay Days and just dress the way you do every day and shock people with how normal and ordinary the gay community is.