Does the NH Union Leader Have the Right to Ban Gay Marriage Announcements?
The New Hampshire Union Leader refused to print a wedding announcement of a gay couple and as a result, stirred the angry pot of readers and subscribers.
To justify their decision, publisher Joe McQuaid wrote that the paper is not “anti-gay," but is opposed to a gay marriage law, according to the Boston Globe.
“While the law sanctions gay marriage, it neither demands that churches perform them or that our First Amendment right to choose what we print be suspended," McQuaid told the Globe. “We continue our longstanding policy of printing letters to the editor from New Hampshire citizens, whether or not they agree with us."
If you read the comments, you will see there are two camps on this issue.
The first camp is the gay community supporters who say that the paper is dead wrong and that there should be some legal action taken.
The other camp is the anti-gay community that applauds the move by the paper.
Then there is the camp I'm in — the camp that's ok with both stances.
You see, the gay lifestyle isn't something that registers with me. I'm not bothered by it. It's really a non-issue as far as I'm concerned. If you're gay, cool. If you're not, fine. It honestly doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things whether or not you like chicks or dudes. It really doesn't.
But, from the newspaper's standpoint, they have every right to publish what they want. It's their paper and, as you know, each paper has a political stance. While they cover the "issues" there's always a hidden agenda or role that the publishers want the paper to play in the community. Oftentimes, that role consists of a political view. Why do you think papers come out publicly to support candidates?
I feel that the paper should print the notice, but that's because of my stance on the gay lifestyle in general. But, that's just my no-frills, no-drama political views. (I'd rather talk about real issues that impact my life when it comes to political jousting.)
This is an argument that will keep spinning round and round, and not come to an end. The publisher will refuse to publish such notices and the commenters will continue their fiery debate.
Where do you stand on the issue?
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