Utah paper denies request to publish gay couple's wedding announcement

What is it with Utah and the gays?

(From examiner.com)
"The Spectrum, a southern Utah newspaper, has denied the request to publish a wedding announcement, because the couple was gay. Tyler Barrick and Spencer Jones, who reside in San Francisco, were legally married in June 2008, and wanted their announcement published prior to a family party in Utah this year.

“After all, our marriage is just as real and legal and entitled to celebration as any of the others that are announced each week in the pages of The Spectrum,” Jones wrote in an e-mail to Donnie Welch, the newspaper publisher.

Welch originally agreed to run the announcement in the paper without a picture of the couple, as it may have made readers uncomfortable. But soon after, Jones asked Welch to reconsider his decision. Welch made the choice to not run the ad.

“As our policy is to run marriage announcements recognized by Utah law, I have made the decision not to run the announcement,” explained Welch. The group GLAAD – Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, has worked for years to get newspapers to publish wedding announcements for gay couples.

A member of GLAAD spoke to Welch, trying to change his mind on the wedding announcement of Barrick and Jones, but the publisher did not change his mind. On Thursday, GLAAD made a note on their Web site, encouraging concerned people to contact The Spectrum.

When the couple heard their announcement would not be run in the newspaper, they just let the issue go. Barrick “didn’t want to be the poster couple for gay marriage”, although the couple fought against Proposition 8 in California. Fortunately, Barrick and Jones announcement was published in The Salt Lake Tribune."