Utah Paper Continues to Refuse Gay Couple’s Announcement
August 14, 2009
As we noted here yesterday, the Spectrum, in St. George, Utah received – and refused – a paid wedding announcement from Spencer Jones and Tyler Barrick. The couple was married last June, in California, but they are having a wedding reception and celebration in Southern Utah with their family on August 22, 2009. They wanted to share this moment with their family, friends and community by publishing their announcement in the “Celebrations” section of the Spectrum.
Barrick and Jones
After the publisher, Donnie Welch, refused this announcement, Jones called on GLAAD for help. We reported yesterday that we had reached out to the paper, and encouraged you to reach out to Mr. Welch and ask him to reconsider his position. We would ask you to continue to reach out to Mr. Welch, and respectfully ask him to print Spencer and Tyler’s announcement.
A report last night on Utah’s KUTV evening news broadcast indicated that Mr. Welch had heard from many people, and is reconsidering the paper’s policy and might publish this announcement. Please continue to encourage him to do so:
Donnie Welch
President/Publisher, Spectrum
435-674-6222
GLAAD also reached out to Gannett Co., the owners of the Spectrum. Robin Pence the Vice President of Communications at Gannett reported to us that policies like this exclusionary one at the Spectrum, are, “up to the local publisher.” Most Gannett Co. newspapers are accepting of advertisements from gay couples. It’s time for Gannett to ensure that none of their newspapers have exclusionary policies. We hope you’ll reach out to Gannett and encourage them to reconsider their hands-off approach:
Robin Pence
Vice President of Communications
Gannett Co.
703-854-6049
GLAAD pitched this story and yesterday’s GLAADblog entry to several reporters, and saw widespread media coverage of the story, including in the Spectrum itself:
- The Associated Press – “Paper rejects same-sex wedding announcement”
- The Salt Lake Tribune – “Newspaper rejects same-sex wedding notice”
- KUTV – “Spectrum Wedding Announcement Controversy”
- City Weekly! – “Spectrum doesn’t like gay marriage”
- Spectrum – “Paper refuses same-sex notice”
Yesterday, GLAAD contacted 14 major corporations that advertise with the Spectrum, that also have non-discrimination policies covering sexual orientation (and about half also cover gender identity). We asked those companies to pull their advertising dollars from the paper because of this exclusionary policy.
We will update this blog with any additional information about this story.
Related Posts:Utah Newspaper Refuses Gay Couple’s Wedding Announcement
August 13, 2009
Spencer Jones and Tyler Barrick were married at San Francisco City Hall on June 17, 2008. The couple rushed to get married on the first day California gay couples were legally allowed to do so – and were lucky enough to have their marriage upheld by the California Supreme Court post Proposition 8.
Jones and Barrick planned to return to their hometown in Southern Utah on August 22, 2009 to have their formal wedding reception with their family and friends.
Like any other happy couple, they planned to announce their reception in their local paper – both to celebrate their happiness and to make sure all their friends knew where to celebrate with them.
But, their hometown paper, The Spectrum, in St. George, Utah rejected their ad.
At first, the paper said they could run the announcement in the “celebrations” section of the paper – but only if there was no picture.
Jones and Barrick objected to being told their picture would be excluded, and in response president and publisher Donnie Welch decided that no announcement would run at all. He told the couple, “As our policy is to run marriage announcements recognized by Utah Law, I have made the decision to not run this announcement.”
When Jones and Barrick were first married in June 2008, they received widespread media coverage, from People Magazine to the Bay Area Reporter. They also were mentioned and pictured by USA Today – which, like The Spectrum, is owned by Gannett. Tyler’s mom created a video that shows all the media coverage.
The advertisement that Jones and Barrick submitted looked like this:
Spencer Jones and Tyler Barrick
Tyler Jerome Barrick and Spencer Kent Jones
Tyler Jerome Barrick and Spencer Kent Jones will celebrate their marriage in a ceremony on September 6, 2009, at the Rio Villa Resort on the banks of the Russian River in Sonoma County, California. An open house and reception will be held in their honor on August 22, 2009, at 7PM, at 908 Madison Heights in Washington, Utah.
Spencer is the son of Leon and Cherie Jones, currently of Stansbury Park, Utah, and formerly of St. George, Utah. Tyler is the son of Steven and Linda Stay of Washington, Utah.
The grooms met in St. George, Utah, in 2001, while Spencer was home on winter break from Dartmouth College and Tyler was attending Dixie State College. The couple has subsequently lived together in Washington, DC, Tokyo, Japan, and San Francisco, California. Spencer graduated with a B.A. in government and history from Dartmouth in 2002, subsequently obtained a Juris Doctorate from Stanford Law School in 2007, and currently works as a litigation associate for the international law firm of O’Melveny & Myers LLP in San Francisco. Tyler graduated with a B.S. in nursing from the University of San Francisco in 2007, and he currently works as a cardiac R.N. at the UCSF Medical Center in San Francisco. Tyler and Spencer were among the first dozen same-sex couples to legally obtain their marriage license in San Francisco last year, on June 17, 2008. The couple has made their home in San Francisco, where they reside with their dog Cooper.
GLAAD reached out to Mr. Welch with concerns when we heard this story. We shared with him a few important facts:
- The Spectrum is a Gannett newspaper, and 85% of all Gannett newspapers that run any type of wedding announcement will, under most circumstances, run the ads of same sex couples, like Jones and Barrick.
- GLAAD launched the Announcing Equality campaign in 2002 after working with The New York Times to open its weddings and celebrations pages to same-sex couples.In 2002, there were only 70 daily papers in the U.S. willing to print a wedding/commitment ceremony announcement for a same-sex couple. After The Kansas City Star joined the list of LGBT-inclusive papers in June of this year, this number today stands at 1,052.
- In 2008, another paper in Utah, The Herald Journal, which has an even smaller readership than The Spectrum printed it’s first same sex wedding announcement – and faced relatively little community push back. There were a few very vocal opponents, but overall, the decision had little-to-no business impact.
But Welch still declined to publish Jones and Barrick’s announcement, telling GLAAD he was, “making a business decision.”
The Spectrum boasts advertising from major companies in the circular section of it’s website. Of the 18 companies listed, 15 have non discrimination policies covering sexual orientation, 8 also include gender identity – according to HRC’s Corporate Equality Index.
GLAAD’s Senior Director of Media Programs, Rashad Robinson issued this statement about Welch’s decision:
“We believe all couples should be able to celebrate their weddings with their local communities. What’s more meaningful than a wedding-the joining of a couple in a loving commitment? We believe everyone should have this opportunity and we’ll continue to work so that couples in every locality – including St. George, Utah – can share this rich part of their lives.”
GLAAD encourages you – particularly those who live in Utah – to reach out to The Spectrum’s Donnie Welch, and urge him to publish Spender and Tyler’s announcement.
Contact:
Donnie Welch
President/Publisher, The Spectrum
435-674-6222
Jones has also contacted the National Center for Lesbian Rights, a national LGBT legal organization, to alert them to this incident. Executive Director Kate Kendell made a statement that “NCLR is very disturbed and disappointed to hear about the treatment that Spencer and Tyler experienced. No family or couple should be made to feel like their relationship is somehow of a lesser status simply because of their sexual orientation.” Both GLAAD and NCLR will continue to keep a close eye on the situation as it develops.
Related Posts:Kansas City Star to Include Wedding Announcement of Same-Sex Couples
June 5, 2009
More great news from America’s Heartland!
Yesterday the Kansas City Star – one of the Missouri’s largest newspapers – announced its decision to adopt a new inclusive wedding announcement policy, printing the announcements of Kansas’ same-sex couples for the first time in the “Celebrations” section of the paper. This news was met with excitement by folks around the region – but no one was happier than newlyweds Mike and Chuck Hewitt, who submitted the announcement that led to the official change in policy at the Star.
Following the news that Iowa had extended marriage to same-sex couples in April, Mike and Chuck Hewitt of Independence, Missouri, decided to travel to Iowa in order to finally have the chance to exchange wedding vows after 10 years together.
“Even though we had a commitment ceremony, when we had the legal ceremony it was like a little switch was flipped and it just felt complete,” said Chuck Hewitt to KMBC.
However, when the couple returned to their home state and began the process of submitting a wedding announcement with their local paper, the Independence Enquirer, they discovered that their announcement was not welcome. Disheartened but still excited to share their joy at their recent wedding with friends and neighbors, they called on the Kansas City Star next. According to Mike Hewitt, “All they had to do was look at the picture – ‘Two guys? No.”
News of their rejection reached local media outlets, and was picked up across Missouri and as far away as Quad Cities, Illinois. Both papers were approached for comment and told KMBC that they were following the state law of Missouri, which does not recognize marriage for same-sex couples. Following the media attention, however, and thanks to earlier conversations with GLAAD that helped to lay the groundwork for the change in policy, the Kansas City Star responded to the outpouring of reader comments about the news reports of non-inclusive wedding announcement policy.
According to Derek Donovan, reader representative at the Kansas City Star,
“At the time the couple contacted the Classified division last week, it was the first time I’m aware of that the question had been raised in a long time. The policy was put in place three publishers ago, before states began legalizing marriage and other unions between gay couples.
The Star’s senior management met last Thursday morning to review the old policy, and decided to change it. I replied to the TV reporter’s request for comment last week immediately after that policy meeting, but did not receive a response. The new ‘Celebrations’ will debut in the near future.”
Not only will the Hewitt family be able to share their good news with their local community, but the Kansas City Star’s change of heart makes the total of U.S. daily newspapers with inclusive policies reach 1,052 strong! How do we know? GLAAD has been studying the announcement policies of newspapers across the country, working for more LGBT-inclusive policies for more than six years now.
We launched our Announcing Equality campaign in 2002 after working with The New York Times to open its weddings and celebrations pages to same-sex couples – and then expanded the campaign nationwide, working with more papers to open their pages to same-sex couples. Back in 2002, there were only 70 daily papers in the U.S. willing to print a wedding/commitment ceremony announcement for a same-sex couple. With the Kansas City Star joining the list of LGBT-inclusive papers along with the Illinois Pantagraph late last year, this number jumps to 1,052.
You can see the happy couple’s reaction in their interview with KCTV5 here.
And for those curious about the feedback that the Kansas City Star has received about its new policy? Donovan says that the feed back has been almost “100% positive.”
Announcing Equality: Oregon Newspaper’s Policy Change Part of Growing Trend
December 16, 2008
Thursday’s news that the Oregon’s Eugene Register-Guard will now publish birth announcements for sam
e-sex couples was met with celebration by folks not only in Eugene, but at also at GLAAD. For the past six years we have been studying the announcement policies of newspapers across the country, lobbying for more LGBT-inclusive policies.
Announcing Equality
We launched our Announcing Equality campaign in 2002 after working with the New York Times to open its weddings and celebrations pages to same-sex couples. Seeing gay and lesbian couples’ wedding and other commitment ceremony announcements in the New York Times was great. But what about the rest of the country?
Back in ‘02, there were 70 daily newspapers in the U.S. willing to print a wedding/commitment ceremony announcement from a same-sex couple. By the time we surveyed every daily U.S. newspaper in 2008, that number jumped to 1,050!
This means an estimated 83 percent of all U.S. newspaper consumers read a paper t
hat accepts wedding announcements from same-sex couples.
Over 1,050 Strong!
Make that 1,051 exactly, with our newest addition! This fall, Dennis Vaughn and Mark Neal called GLAAD letting us know they were having trouble placing their wedding announcement in Dennis’ hometown newspaper, the Pantagraph, out of Bloomington, Illinois. After conversations with key editors at the paper, the Pantagraph made the choice to print their very first wedding announcement for a gay couple, for Dennis and Mark on October 5, 2008.
GLAAD has worked with couples across the country to help them make headway at their local newspapers, but not every newspaper is as open to fair-minded discussion as the folks at the Pantagraph are. For example, let’s take the case of Ronda Moorhead and Kelli Shaw in Canton, Ohio. Ronda and Kelli have made their home in Canton, and this spring they had hoped to place their engagement announcement in their hometown paper, the Repository.
Though the Repository’s editor Jeff Gauger still refused to place the couples’ announcement after conversations with both the couple and with GLAAD, we were able to draw attention to the issue and spark conversations in their hometown and beyond.
With GLAAD’s help, the paper’s discriminatory policy has been discussed in the Gay People’s Chronicle, alternative weekly Cleveland Free Times, and the local Cleveland Fox and CBS TV affiliates. The local CBS affiliate held a live blog forum on its website, during which many community members voiced support for their neighbors Ronda and Kelli. One wrote: “I think it’s wrong to deny them the announce
ment, because they are just like everyone else. They are just another couple who love each other and want to spend the rest of their lives together.”
Announce YOUR Equality!
Sure, more than 1,000 papers will include gay and lesbian couples’ announcements. However, only 340 of these papers have actually received an announcement from a same-sex couple to print. Be the first same-sex couple to submit your announcement! Check out GLAAD’s new online resource for a list of inclusive papers, and let us know how it goes! Email us your stories at: announcingequality@glaad.org
Mark Bingham’s Mother Shares Her Story
December 1, 2008
Alice Hoagland
Last week the San Jose Mercury News profiled Alice Hoagland, mother of gay athlete Mark Bingham, who was killed on United Flight 93 on Sept. 11, 2001.
As previously mentioned, Bingham is believed to have helped organize the storm on the plane’s cockpit, preventing the terrorists from hitting another target. He was also an original member of the San Francisco Fog, one of the first gay rugby teams in the United States.
Since her son’s death, Hoagland has become a strong advocate for the LGBT community. She recently spoke at a rally against Proposition 8 in downtown San Jose and regularly attends gay rugby tournaments.
“Those causes grew out of the wreckage of my life,” Hoagland told the Mercury News. “I feel I owe it to Mark and I owe it to the world to fight hard for improving aviation security, and getting rid of terrorists, and helping radical Islam to realize it has moderate roots, which are much more about love than it is; and to advance the LGBT cause.”
The article also details Bingham’s experience coming out to his mother and her reaction.
“In that one sentence, he blew away all my preconceptions of what gay people were all about,” Hoagland said. “I cried for a while, but I grew up.”
Having personally met Alice, I can honestly say she carries with her the energy of a thousand people. She’s vivacious, passionate and incredibly well spoken. To have her, a Mormon mother of a gay son, advocate for the LGBT community in the media is so crucial in changing the hearts and minds of Americans.
It’s important for LGBT people and allies to be like Alice and share their stories in the media. A father might write an op-ed in support of his transgender son. An employee might submit a piece in the office newsletter thanking a coworker and her wife for organizing the annual holiday party.
If you need help getting started, GLAAD offers its Announcing Equality resource, complete with tips and tools for how to effectively change hearts and minds with your stories.
To find out more, check out: http://www.glaad.org/AnnouncingEquality/.
Starting the Conversation
October 6, 2008
Last week was a big week for the news media — the economic crisis, the approaching Presidential debates and a contentious election all grabbed headlines. One particular story, though, brought up some interesting questions about Americans’ feelings about the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community in some unexpected ways.
It was the news that pop singer, Broadway actor and former American Idol contestant Clay Aiken opened up about being gay, which invoked a strong response from his very devoted fan base.
While I can’t say that I follow Clay’s music career, reading about some of the reactions on blogs and in mainstream outlets got me thinking about how some of those fan reactions resembled the kinds of conversations that can change hearts and minds about gay and transgender people.
Media outlets picked up the discussions on the Clay Aiken message boards, which included a lot of posts like this one:
“I knew in my heart for awhile that he was– …but my head was having nothing to do with it. I knew it might come eventually, but again my brain denyed it . I’m sure its a shock to all of us, weather we believe it or not .”
My immediate reaction was that it sounded just like my parents, and many parents like mine — they knew, but weren’t quite ready to admit it. For others, however, the reaction was shock:
“Please tell me I’m not the only one who is shocked beyond belief! I feel numb I’m so upset. This can’t be real!! How can you guys say this won’t change anything? This changes EVERYTHING. I don’t even know what to think right now.”
It was clear that for many of his most ardent fans, they needed to make sense of how they felt and come to terms with having to think differently about him. That’s not an uncommon reaction for people who have a friend or family member come out, and it’s a reaction that hopefully leads to conversations that result in understanding and respect.
In many cases that doesn’t happen right away. That’s why it’s important for gay and transgender people — and our allies — to talk about our stories and our lives. Many of the people that posted to the message boards spoke about their gay friends or family members, and how important those people were to them. Those types of messages seemed to allow people to speak openly and correct their own misconceptions and doubts.
Clay joins a group of openly LGBT celebrities who have moved these types of conversation forward in big and small ways — just as Ellen and Portia did last month when the images of their marriage appeared on her show and in the pages of People magazine. And decisions by other celebrities to live openly have helped create new opportunities for media visibility.
When you add that to the growing list of LGBT characters on the primetime networks, we can really see the progress that has been made in recent years to ensure that LGBT people have visibility in mainstream media, a visibility that we celebrate at the GLAAD Media Awards every year.
While we can document tremendous progress, we still have a lot of work to do. Many gay and lesbian couples — which include a lot of parents like Clay — across the country are still prohibited from making commitments that would allow them to take care of and be responsible for one another and their children. And many people live daily with the fear of being fired from their jobs because they’re gay or transgender, while many don’t even feel safe and secure in their own communities.
And though stories like Clay’s and like Ellen’s create opportunities to talk about our community and bring visibility to these issues, we all have a responsibility to talk about these issues in our homes, our workplaces and our communities. The visibility of LGBT celebrities, and the inclusion of LGBT stories in mainstream media outlets, can help to make those discussions easier to start — but it is the everyday conversations and personal stories that can have the biggest impact.
And you can start that conversation now. To find out more about how you can share your story, check out glaadBLOG.
This entry is cross posted at The Huffington Post.
Announcing Equality and the Celebration of Our Stories
August 22, 2008
Cross posted at The Huffington Post.
Back in June, at the height of the wedding season, I took part in two very important family events. First, I sat with my parents as they celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary. With love and joy, they recounted the now well-told story about how they met, and also doled out some relationship advice — my dad’s general rule sounds a lot like something you’d hear on a classic sitcom: “Son, your mother is always right.” Then the following week, I stood next to my brother as the best man at his wedding–proud and emotional as he married his girlfriend of two years.
As my family has done on numerous occasions – from Dean’s List announcements to awards at art competitions — both milestones were announced in the Riverhead News Review, my hometown newspaper. Like many proud parents, my mother takes this very seriously, and makes sure the announcement gets in on time – and everyone knows not to protest.
Six years ago yesterday, The New York Times opened the pages of its Weddings/Celebrations section to gay and lesbian couples after meetings with GLAAD leadership. At the time, GLAAD was able to report that 68 additional daily newspapers around the nation also accepted and printed wedding announcements for same-sex couples.
This week, we were very excited to release a brand new list of inclusive papers as part of our Announcing Equality campaign. The change has been dramatic – now there are 1,049 daily newspapers that will accept announcements from same-sex couples, and for the first time, in nine states (Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maine, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Vermont ) and the District of Columbia, every daily newspaper will accept and print announcements for gay and lesbian couples.
Every day in my work at GLAAD, we hear stories from lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people and their families, friends and allies – stories of happy celebrations, but also of tremendous challenges and roadblocks. We see firsthand how those stories play an important role in changing hearts and minds. It’s amazing to see the level of progress in such a short time, and the numbers really speak to an opportunity that the LGBT community and our allies have: to share our stories with the communities where we live, work and contribute.
You see, when weddings and celebrations pages in our local newspapers become inclusive by including the milestones of LGBT Americans alongside their straight families, friends and neighbors, it breaks down barriers. It invests people in our joy and the stories of our celebrations. And it reminds us of common ground we share.
And the opportunities are everywhere – local newspapers, college and alumni newsletters, church and union bulletins. As we work to ensure that laws treat LGBT people fairly, we know that when our stories appear next to those of our friends and family – my future anniversary right next to my brother’s, right in the pages of the local paper – shows real cultural change.
There is still work for all of us to do – less than one-third of the papers with inclusive policies have actually printed an announcement from a same-sex couple. Why? Because they’ve never received one. It just underscores how vital it is that we take the opportunities to share our stories to make our voices heard and our lives visible in our communities. Standing next to my brother, I thought about how proud I was of him, how happy I was that he found someone with whom to share the love and security that marriage provides, and the commitment and responsibility it requires. And I know that he will feel the same way when he stands next to me.
I don’t doubt that my mom is already thinking about what my future wedding announcement will look like, just as she is looking ahead to the day when the laws of our state and our nation finally catch up to the reality of gay and lesbian couples and their commitments. But one thing’s for sure: newspapers in communities across the country are already there. They have provided each of us – LGBT and straight ally, family member and friend alike – with a way to advance the kind of cultural understanding and acceptance that paves the road to that change. We simply need to take the opportunity and announce our equality.
And for me, thanks to my mother, I learned long before my time at GLAAD that there is no arguing with the important of celebrating ones milestones.
For more resources visit: http://www.glaad.org/AnnouncingEquality You can also find out if your local daily runs inclusive announcements and find information on how to submit announcements, plus downloads for MySpace and Facebook pages and other easy, everyday ways that you can talk about your life in local media outlets and online.
