N.C. newspaper stands by announcement of gay civil union

By The Associated Press

07.31.02

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FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Among the newlyweds and longtime husbands and wives smiling from The Fayetteville Observer's wedding listings, one couple stood out.

Two bearded, bespectacled men — one in yarmulke and prayer shawl, the other in a tuxedo — stood side-by-side in a photograph under the banner "Civil Union."

Publisher Charles Broadwell said July 26 that reader response has been "a little bit two-headed" since the announcement ran five days earlier. While most local reaction has been negative, he said, much of the national response applauds the decision.

Broadwell said the Observer tries "to be sensitive to community standards. We also try to promote tolerance," and refusing to run the item would have been "hypocritical or even discriminatory."

The newspaper, with a weekday circulation of 66,700 and Sunday readership of 75,000, serves the state's sixth-largest city and other communities neighboring Fort Bragg and Pope Air Force Base.

The couple, Richard Jernigan, 54, and John Nitzsche, 44, live in nearby Hope Mills. Jernigan said they have gotten little reaction since the ceremony June 28 in Vermont, where same-sex unions are legal.

Broadwell said seven readers canceled their subscriptions after the announcement.

He said the newspaper would run similar announcements on two conditions: that the union is officially recognized by a government, and that at least one partner is from the area. Jernigan was raised in the area.

Teri Saylor, executive director of the North Carolina Press Association, said it was the first such item she has seen in a North Carolina newspaper.