Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - The photo is not the problem

Chicago Sun-Times Editorial - The photo is not the problem
Copyright by The Chicago Sun-Times
April 30, 2009
http://www.suntimes.com/news/commentary/1550990,CST-EDT-edit30b.article


A photo of two women kissing, which ran on the front page of Tuesday's Sun-Times, offended many readers, perhaps including you. We received plenty of calls and e-mails.

The photo, no doubt, also pleased more than a few readers, although admittedly we didn't hear from many of them. The rule at every newspaper is that readers write and call far more often when they are upset.

Our own view is that this photo belonged on Page One -- it was played just right -- reflecting the big news of the day: Gay marriage was now legal next door in good ol' heartland Iowa.

When the Iowa Supreme Court, in a unanimous decision written by a Republican judge, has legalized gay marriage, it's difficult to see how a photo of two lesbians kissing after getting hitched is inappropriate, even in a family newspaper.

It is the news.

Those of us on the Sun-Times Editorial Board didn't make the call to run the photo, by the way. The decision was made by the news editors. We're just glad they did.

A number of readers said their primary worry was that children might see the photo, which we find ironic because young people are overwhelmingly less anti-gay than their elders. Fifty-seven percent of those under 40 support gay marriage, according to a recent New York Times/CBS poll, while only 31 percent over 40 feel that way.

We respect the right of critics to believe that gay marriage is wrong, often as a matter of faith. And we know that they will, as dutiful parents, share those views with their children who see the photo.

But our respect for differing views and values does not alter the fact that gay marriage is now legal in Iowa -- and there is nothing illicit about the behavior in that photo.

We're not troubled by the photo, but by the idea that people in Iowa are more open-minded and tolerant than we are in Illinois.

When did that happen?