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.