Missouri Newspaper Rejects Same-Sex Marriage Announcement

[TheZug]

Source: Riverfront Times

Shaun Murphy and Aaron Lopez were still basking in the glow of their September wedding when they decided to send out marriage announcements. They contacted newspapers in the small Michigan town where Lopez grew up and ones in Iowa, where Murphy lived until he was in fourth grade. No trouble whatsoever.

Then Murphy reached out to the Lake Gazette in Monroe City, Missouri, where he'd moved as a fourth grader and lived in during high school.

The editor confirmed that they published wedding announcements, and that the service was free. She said he could send theirs over. He did.

But then the process grinded to a halt.

(Read the rest at the link)

Read more: http://www.riverfronttimes.com/newsblog/2015/11/03/missouri-newspaper-rejects-same-sex-marriage-announcement

[dembotoz]

1. newspaper has control over what they publish

may not like it
but they own it
its theirs

[TheZug]

4. of course they do, BUT

We can express our dislike about it to them.

[PatrynXX]

10. yep but can't force a free press to publish anything

even if some lean left or right thats how it is. and I used to work for one.. till I got laid off. Even while I complained about it I knew it was a wise business move.

[TheZug]

11. Who said anything about forcing?

I'm not a free speech absolutist, but I'm not far off from it. I'm not in favor of banning speech or forcing people to say something they don't believe. BUT part of free speech is being responsible for your speech and having to accept criticism for it.

[dbackjon]

5. If they offer this as a free service to all, then this is discrimintion

No different than any other public business.


Hope they get sued.

[24601]

7. The courts likely will decide that a free press is specifically covered by 1st amendment provisions

that just don't apply to most other business. The courts will not want to get into the business of deciding what a paper must publish.

Everyone is free to start-up their own press if they don't like a paper's publishing decisions.

[TheZug]

8. Or exercise their own 1st amendment rights by criticizing

[Scuba]

2. The hatred is hard to fix.

[-none]

3. Too many Missourians are still living in the 1950's.

I can't believe the disconnect with logic and reality so many people around here have here.

[uppityperson]

6. It may be "perfectly legal" but it is also pefectly wrong

[jmowreader]

9. This paper has 2100 circulation and Monroe City is beet-red

Here's the disgusting reality: if this paper were to print this wedding announcement, the loss of subscribers and ad revenue would probably force the paper to close. A bigger paper with a good sales staff - or a readership who knows Adam and Steve's marriage in no way affects their own - can print all the same-sex marriage announcements they want. This one can't.

[Skittles]

12. you're pretty much showing exactly how small towns fail to evolve

[jmowreader]

13. "Fail" isn't the word I would use. Try "refuse."

Fail implies that they at least try to evolve; small towns go on the principle of "if it was good enough for my grandfather, it is good enough for me."

[Skittles]

15. true

the fact that they COULD find out the facts but choose not to is very disturbing indeed; I believe the bigotry the passed down and now we have this ridiculous "us against them" mentality, but the have the wrong THEM

[AngryAmish]

14. A wise government would have the publisher tied to a tree

and whipped within an inch of their lives.

Unfortunately, our government is not wise.

[Skittles]

16. responses like this

seriously?