Man removed from mother-in-law’s obit because newspaper doesn’t believe in gay marriage

A newspaper in Texas has removed the name of a man from a woman’s obituary because the publisher doesn’t believe in same-sex marriage. Barry Giles and John Gambill have been together for 31 years when Giles’ mother died they were shocked to find Gambill’s name had been removed from the obit.

The original obit submitted to the Olton Enterprise read: “Those left to cherish her memory include her son, Barry Giles and his husband, John Gambill of Dallas.” The version printed had no mention of Gambill at all.

Gambill was saddened to make the find, “She’s like my second mom, you know.” He called the newspaper for an explanation, “I said, ‘Why was my name left out?’ And he said, ‘Because I wanted to.’ And that’s all there was to the conversation. Of course, I had a few choice words to say to him.”

“It wiped John completely off the picture like he didn’t exist,” Giles said. “We’re human beings like anyone else. We have feelings. We have relationships, whether he agrees with them or not.”

The publisher of the Olton Enterprise, Phillip Hamilton, who is also a part-time Baptist pastor, wrote in a statement: “It is my religious conviction that a male cannot have a husband. It is also my belief that to publish anything contrary to God’s Word on this issue would be to publish something in the newspaper that is not true.

“The newspaper respects the first amendment rights of those who express such opinions. The newspaper’s decision to edit the obituary is both ethical and lawful. It would be unethical to publish a news item that is known by the editor to be false. Based on the truth found in the Word of God, I could not in good conscience identify Mr Gambill as the husband of Mr Giles.”

The original obituary was published unedited in other local newspapers. The couple is currently looking in any legal options they might have.

Tim Gibson - mygwork

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