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KANSAS CITY, MO -
A metro couple didn't know or anticipate that they were making history, but their nuptial announcement led to a review and change of policy at the area's largest newspaper.
Michael and Chuck Hewitt were married on May 17th in Lamoni, Iowa, shortly after the state legalized same-sex marriages. But when they wanted to announce their wedding in the Kansas City Star, they were initially turned down.
"You open up the paper all the time and you see these other wedding announcements," said Michael Hewitt. "We thought, since this was a real wedding, well, we'll put it in the paper."
The couple first contacted The Star and then the Independence Examiner.
"Within a half hour, we got an email back that said we don't do same sex or commitment ceremonies in our paper," said Michael.
"It dampened the spirit of it and the joy of it," said Chuck Hewitt. "It made it feel like, we didn't count as much as other people."
But the Hewitt's never realized that their request would prompt major discussions at both newspapers.
"This is the first time that I'm aware of in recent history that the question has even come up as to whether the Star would run an announcement like this or not," said Derek Donovan, The Star's readers representative. Donovan said that the paper decided to change their policy, and, as of last week, started publishing same-sex marriage announcements.
"We couldn't come up with a compelling reason why not to," said Donovan.
Donovan says that he spent the day talking to Star readers about the new policy, and he says that most of the readers applaud the change.
Examiner publisher Steve Curd says that they're standing by their decision not to run the announcement. But Curd stresses that it is in no way a political statement of any kind.
"The Examiner's policy is to follow the law of the State of Missouri," said Curd.
While the Hewitt's don't agree with The Examiner's position, they say that they're thrilled with The Star's new policy.
"It's pretty incredible that they've done an about-face," said Michael.
Michael and Chuck Hewitt were married on May 17th in Lamoni, Iowa, shortly after the state legalized same-sex marriages. But when they wanted to announce their wedding in the Kansas City Star, they were initially turned down.
"You open up the paper all the time and you see these other wedding announcements," said Michael Hewitt. "We thought, since this was a real wedding, well, we'll put it in the paper."
The couple first contacted The Star and then the Independence Examiner.
"Within a half hour, we got an email back that said we don't do same sex or commitment ceremonies in our paper," said Michael.
"It dampened the spirit of it and the joy of it," said Chuck Hewitt. "It made it feel like, we didn't count as much as other people."
But the Hewitt's never realized that their request would prompt major discussions at both newspapers.
"This is the first time that I'm aware of in recent history that the question has even come up as to whether the Star would run an announcement like this or not," said Derek Donovan, The Star's readers representative. Donovan said that the paper decided to change their policy, and, as of last week, started publishing same-sex marriage announcements.
"We couldn't come up with a compelling reason why not to," said Donovan.
Donovan says that he spent the day talking to Star readers about the new policy, and he says that most of the readers applaud the change.
Examiner publisher Steve Curd says that they're standing by their decision not to run the announcement. But Curd stresses that it is in no way a political statement of any kind.
"The Examiner's policy is to follow the law of the State of Missouri," said Curd.
While the Hewitt's don't agree with The Examiner's position, they say that they're thrilled with The Star's new policy.
"It's pretty incredible that they've done an about-face," said Michael.
