Even with Chancellor John Silber’s early-September disbanding of the Boston University Academy’s Gay-Straight Alliance, recognition of homosexuality as an acceptable lifestyle did gain ground in recent weeks. After The New York Times announced it would include gay and lesbian commitment ceremony announcements among its other wedding announcements last month, The Boston Globe announced it would partially follow suit, giving an important and credible boost to the movement to make gay marriages legal.
Though the Times will mix its gay ceremony announcements in with other heterosexual marriage announcements, the Globe will include gay ceremonies under a separate “Commitments” heading in its “Special Occasions” section. The Globe, which is owned by The New York Times Company, did not make its decision because of the Times’ decision, according to Globe Editor Martin Baron in the paper’s article announcement Sunday. Homosexual commitment ceremonies are now announced in 139 newspapers nationwide, according to the political director of The Freedom to Marry Coalition of Massachusetts, Joshua Friedes.
The newspapers’ announcements are big victories for all proponents of gay-rights. Though gay marriages are not legally honored, the newspapers’ decisions acknowledge that gay marriages should be recognized and considered as valid as marriages between heterosexuals. Because the Times and Globe are both so widely read in and out of Massachusetts, their inclusion of homosexual unions within or near other marriage announcements could lead to a broader acceptance of the practice among each paper’s large number of readers.
Though some gay-rights organizations have criticized the Globe for segregating gay commitment announcements under their own heading, the newspaper’s policy shift was wisely made. News organizations have a responsibility to report and disseminate the truth. And, while gay marriages should be legally acknowledged, they are not considered legal in any state in the Union. The Globe’s decision to publish gay union announcements separate from those of state-acknowledged marriages is the best way to maintain journalistic integrity while still recognizing a clear societal trend and making an important political statement.
The Times and Globe have both taken a step in the right direction over the past month in including gay commitment ceremony announcements within their pages. While gay-rights advocates still have a long way to go in making gay marriages legal, their recent gains in the news media should make them proud.