Carolina Paper Runs Civil Union Announcement (PlanetOut.com)
Ann Rostow, Gay.com /PlanetOut.com Network
Originally published at PlanetOut.com, July 26, 2002
SUMMARY: A North Carolina newspaper has courted controversy by publishing an announcement for a gay civil union.
The GLBT community has come a long way if a North Carolina newspaper is publishing civil union announcements, but that's what happened last Sunday, July 21, in the "celebrations" section of the Fayetteville Observer.
Editor and publisher Charles Broadwell explained the decision in a commentary elsewhere in the same issue, writing that the paper found itself between a rock and a hard place. Two local men, Richard Jernigan and John Nitzsche, had traveled to Vermont to establish the only serious legal tie available to same-sex couples in the country.
"We knew that running [the announcement] would stir controversy and offend some readers," wrote Broadwell. "We also knew that, if we refused to run it, we could face criticism and more controversy." In the end, Broadwell continued, "I eventually decided that to refuse to run such an announcement—which we print for free along with most of the more standard announcements—would be hypocritical, or even discriminatory."
The paper tempered its stand by noting that the new policy applied only to Fayetteville-area couples that had signed up for Vermont civil unions, reassuring readers that the number of eligible couples would be limited.
In a further step back from the gay-friendly implications of the gesture, the civil union notice was printed on its own separate page, away from the other celebration pieces. Nonetheless, Broadwell said local sentiment ran about two-to-one against the decision, with many members of the community expressing disappointment on religious grounds. Outside of the Fayetteville area the reaction via e-mail was "overwhelmingly positive," Broadwell said
Broadwell and his family own the 65,000-75,000-circulation daily that serves a ten-county region of southeastern North Carolina. Although it's probably one of the more conservative regions in the country, Broadwell's new policy puts his paper ahead of the New York Times and the Boston Globe in terms of recognizing gay unions, the Wall Street Journal reports.
With roughly 80 percent of civil unions granted to non-Vermonters, Broadwell's dilemma is one that many publishers are starting to face. And despite the fall out, he does not regret his choice. "I think I did what I felt I had to do," he said. "I would not have been comfortable refusing that announcement as if I were making some moral judgment—I would not have been comfortable doing that, personally, so I would have to stand by my decision."
