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Tell The South Bend Tribune: Print Same-Sex Engagement Announcements
  1. Signatures
    491 out of 500
    Petitioning
    1. Editor and Publisher (+ 2 others)
      Petitioning
      close
      • Editor and Publisher (David Ray)
      • Managing Editor (Tim Harmon)
      • Vice President and General Manager (Steven Funk)
  2. Created By
    Michael Jones
    Boston, MA
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates

The South Bend Tribune, a fairly large newspaper in Indiana with more than 70,000 subscribers weekly (and 90,000 subscribers on Sunday), has turned down an engagement listing from a same-sex couple. According to the Human Rights Campaign, two women, Mary Ponterio and Linda Bentz, tried to submit a paid engagement listing to The South Bend Tribune, but were given the cold shoulder by the newspaper.

The newspaper, for its part, has no official policy on engagement listings, meaning that this decision was influenced solely by the editorial staff of The South Bend Tribune. Would there be any viable reason why they would deny a same-sex couple the chance to list their engagement?

The only reason that seems to come to mind is homophobia, and a resistance toward recognizing the validity of love between two people. Send The South Bend Tribune a message they should allow all couples the chance to list their engagements in the paper. These listings are about celebrating love, and no couple should be prohibited.

Recent Signatures

Print Same-Sex Engagement Listings

Dear South Bend Tribune

The Human Rights Campaign has documented that The South Bend Tribune has refused to publish a same-sex engagement announcement for a local couple. No reason was given for refusing the announcement, and by all accounts, it looks like The South Bend Tribune has no official policy banning same-sex engagement announcements.

I urge you to reconsider your paper's refusal to publish same-sex engagement announcements. These announcements are supposed to be about recognizing love, and allowing couples the chance to share their relationship with their friends, family and community. By refusing to publish announcements from same-sex couples, The South Bend Tribune is sending the message that these relationships are inferior and unworthy of recognition. And that's an unfortunate message to send to your community.

Please reconsider your decision to bar same-sex engagement announcements from the pages of your paper. This isn't about wading into the waters of a political or religious debate; this is about giving two people who love each other the same measure of dignity afforded to heterosexual couples.

Thanks for your time.

[Your name]

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