This file photo shows the Lancaster Newspapers building at 8 West King Street.
Lancaster Newspapers Inc. has reversed policy and will run engagement announcements of same-sex couples, the company president said.
The turnabout came Monday evening, the same day Harold E. Miller, president and chief executive officer of Lancaster Newspapers Inc., explained the advertising department had recently rejected a paid engagement announcement from a same-sex couple because it was not "consistent with prevailing community standards."
The change was driven in part by reader response to that position.
"We had a lot of reaction to this, both pro and con to this issue, and really thought through what people were telling us," Miller said.
Many readers who posted on the paper's Facebook page and the Talkback section of Lancaster Online criticized the former policy Monday.
"We think interaction with our readers is very important for this company, and we had a chance to hear what people said," he said.
Miller called the couple to tell them of the change and to apologize.
Jeffrey Clouser and Brent A. Weaver, of Rapho Township, plan to resubmit their announcement to run in the Sunday News' Celebrations section. Lancaster Newspapers publishes the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era and the Sunday News.
"I'm very appreciative that he called us personally. That was very nice," Weaver, 41, said. Weaver joked that more people now know about the marriage plans than had the paper run the ad in the first place.
"We're going to take this as a victory that Lancaster Newspapers decided to make the smart and correct decision," said Clouser, 43.
The couple contacted WGAL-TV after the paper informed them it would not run the ad. The station ran a story over the weekend.
"The whole point was not to make a big deal of the announcement, but to get the story out there," Clouser said.
"We weren't trying to be champions of equality. We were just trying to be like every other couple was allowed to be. My intent was just to get my point across that there was a rejection and find out why."
Still, he said, he was thankful for taking a stand and the outcome.
Clouser and Weaver said they were also thankful for the support shown them on the paper's comment sections, as well as WGAL's comment section.
"We are eternally and forever grateful for the outcry and support — whether they're gay, straight, old, young — to take the time out of their schedule to make their opinion heard," Clouser said.
Weaver, a world languages teacher for Manheim Township School District, said Talkback is a wonderful forum for people to express their views and "a good way to have discussion."
To his knowledge, Weaver said, he doesn't know any of the people who posted on Talkback or the paper's Facebook page. Nor did he or Clouser know the people who briefly protested outside the paper Monday.
Clouser, a customer service specialist for JBT, a Lebanon County Bank, said they are considering a wedding next June, probably in Connecticut. The couple has been together seven years.
Weaver said Clouser proposed to him at Grace United Church of Christ in Manheim Township on May 27, "seven years to the day we met."
In a letter to readers, Miller wrote, in part: "Engagement, marriage and anniversary announcements are meaningful expressions of love and caring and deserve to be published. We have reconsidered our previous position on this issue and we will publish all such announcements within our Celebrations pages in the Sunday News. We are publishing these announcements without passing judgment, in an effort to fully serve our community and all of our readers."
Miller said the reversal wasn't based on threats to cancel subscriptions or advertising.
"The economic issues weren't a factor here. It was: What content was right for our newspapers to publish," he said.
"The revision was because we had such good dialogue with people in the past 24 hours," he said. "A lot of people did try to reach out and talk to us. And we appreciated that. We like the interaction with readers."
Engagement and wedding items in the Celebrations section are subject to advertising policies because they are paid announcements. They do not involve the news and editorial staffs of the Sunday News or the Intelligencer Journal/Lancaster New Era.
The Pennsylvania Newspaper Association keeps no statistics on whether member newspapers publish or don't publish same-sex engagement or wedding announcements.
Newspapers can dictate their own policy on such items, said Melissa Melewsky, media law counsel for PNA, which is based in Harrisburg.
"I think they may use readers' reactions to guide their policy," she said.
If they do print same-sex announcements, they generally receive responses in support of and opposed to their decision, she said.
READ: A Message from Lancaster Newspapers (PDF)
Staff writer Cindy Stauffer contributed to this story.
