As far as I can tell, this guy has ONE topic in life.
Posted on 09/03/2002 1:17:21 PM PDT by Lance Romance
About 100 newspapers across the country have been printing announcements about same-sex commitment ceremonies in recent years. But not until last week, when the New York Times said it would jump on board, did the trend make headlines nationwide. Why's that? Doesn't it matter that The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune and Cleveland Plain-Dealer already let gay men and lesbians share news of their unions with readers? What about smaller papers that do so in places like Pueblo, Colo., Salina, Kan., and Montgomery, Ala.? "When I saw (the news) in the Times I thought, 'OK, gay marriages have arrived,'" said Jim Bettinger, director of the Knight Journalism Fellowships at Stanford, in USA Today. "Once The New York Times does it, it's hard for other quality newspapers not to do it." He's right about the second point, at least, since The Times remains the most important newspaper in the country and one of the biggest in terms of circulation. Until 1987, The Times refused to allow the word 'gay' as a synonym for 'homosexual.' Since then, it's been a leader in getting newspapers to report more fairly and inclusively about gays and lesbians. And while The Times doesn't deserve all the credit, it's hard to overestimate its influence on other publications and the larger society.
One cultural commentator told USA Today that the Times' announcement on commitment ceremonies was both a cultural bellwether and "reflecting reality, at least a reflection of elite culture."
Being gay doesn't necessarily mean someone is among the elite. But getting listed on The Times' wedding pages usually does. Can we now expect the same kind of superior, at-a-distance kind of gay folks to be mingled among the straight Ivy League grads and junior law partners usually featured? Maybe something like this (fictitious) announcement? Michael David Bradshear, a son of Dr. and Mrs. Henry Michael Bradshear of Worcester, Mass., and William Wallace Matheson, son of the late senator and professor Matthew Donald Matheson and Mrs. Matthew Donald Matheson of the Upper East Side, took part in a candlelit commitment ceremony yesterday evening in Central Park. The Rev. Jonathon Erikson, an Episcopal priest, presided. The grooms, who are keeping their own last names and will live in their Chelsea co-op, met last fall on a ski trip arranged by mutual friends, the children's books author Elizabeth "Betsy" McDougal and her husband, the orthopedic surgeon Dr. Robert Patrick Winston, who was Mr. Bradshear's college rommate at Yale. Bobby Short, the noted cabaret pianist and vocalist, performed "The Way You Look Tonight" at the ceremony, the first for both grooms. Courtney Love, the rock star and occasional film actress, toasted the grooms, whom she had met recently at a private art show opening. It hasn't been quite so very tres here in Atlanta, where this newspaper has allowed printing of same-sex commitment ceremonies since 1994. One appeared at the beginning, but none since, said Sharvon Green, the weddings coordinator of the newspaper's classified advertising department. In her two years on the job, she said, two people have called for information about running the paid notices, but neither followed up. (The cost starts at $125 for a Sunday ad that stays on the Internet for six months.) That could be because few people know about the AJC's policy. Since The Times' announcement, Green said, the AJC has tweaked its classified ads Web page to be more clear about the inclusion of "commitments." And its been working on a larger revision of the print version for some time to reflect other coverage, as well. "A lot of people don't know we do birthdays and class reunions and retirements, too," she said. "And we need to get that out to the public." Those types of events, along with commitment ceremonies, are put on a page adjacent to weddings. Gays are kept separate, she said, only because Georgia doesn't allow same-sex marriage, a policy followed by many other papers, including The Washington Post. Newspapers are supposed to report what's happening in their communities. As more and more same-sex couples are taking part in commitment ceremonies, it's only responsible to reflect that in print. "Up to 99" were expected to be tallied Friday evening by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, a media watchdog group that lobbied The Times, said a GLAAD spokeswoman.
If it takes The New York Times to get that known to more people and to get more newspapers involved, then bravo and thank you to the Old Gray Lady.
I believe New York also voted for Al Gore and Mike Dukakis.
You can almost hear his lisp as he imagines what a fictitious gay wedding announcement will sound like. He has obviously sniffed one too many "poppers" in the local public bathroom.
By the way there's a poll to freep.
As far as I can tell, this guy has ONE topic in life.
Oh, great. Just when I was forgetting I had a gag reflex.
"A daughter was born to Kharenn Smith, 17 and Billy Ray Johnson, 18. Kandie Lacie Mahree joins sisters Joi Kristalle Deneese and Bettie Lewize Kehroll."
Gotta love the different last names.
Now it, and most other papers, use no word for "homosexual" other than "gay," making it impossible to distinguish between chaste homosexual persons and raving gay activists.
AppyPappy and dead were united in conjugal bliss at the Hooters on Palm Ave following a chance encounter in the restroom. Following the ceremony, they plan to spend a weekend at the Squealing Pig Ranch in Butte Monque, Montana.
Isn't it amazing that some folks get to rename themselves frequently --- and then make it a hate crime to call them otherwise?
Semper Fi
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!
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