Won't someone please think about the children?

Fundamentalist tight asses in Boston have taken time out from the gay marriage debate to deal with another impending cultural crisis: queer mannequins.

See, they were right. The slope just keeps getting slicker. What's next, a gay Ken doll?

Macy’s department store found itself mired in a fierce national debate between conservatives and gay activists when it bowed to complaints and removed part of a window display marking Boston Pride Week.

The Downtown Crossing store display featured two male mannequins - one wearing a gay pride rainbow flag around its waist - standing near a list of several planned Boston Pride events. ...

But the store yanked the mannequins from the window after MassResistance, the conservative group formerly named Article 8 Alliance which has also campaigned against sex education and gay-themed books in public schools, complained the display was offensive.

"They were male mannequins with enlarged breasts, and one was wearing a skirt, said MassResistance president Brian Camenker, referring to the gay pride flag wrapped around one figure, cinched with a white belt. "It was really disgusting."

Gay imagery, in a department store? Where will the madness end?

No surprise that Macy's bowed to pressure from the Helen Lovejoy crowd.

Elina Kazan, New York-based spokeswoman for Macy’s, said the decision to pull the dummies, but leave the rest of the display, was an effort to strike a balance.

"We believe in diversity, and our customers are very important to us," Kazan told the Herald, adding that displays supporting Pride Week in previous years did not use mannequins. "But (the display) did offend a few of our customers, and we had to reexamine it."

In other words, we believe in diversity as long as it doesn't damage our bottom line.