Arkansas Newspaper, Bereaved Gay Partner, Embroiled in Bitter Obituary Dispute

A newspaper in Arkansas has rescinded its apology to a gay man who was not listed in his partner's obituary. Moreover, the paper now questions the "motives" of the bereaved man, reported Reuters on June 28.

The Batesville Guard, a local newspaper in Batesville, Arkansas, excluded all reference to the surviving life partner of John Millican, who died earlier this month of spinal meningitis, in Millican's obituary. The newspaper has a policy of not listing unmarried partners in free obituaries, though for $85 the newspaper will publish an obituary that contains such details.

According to a June 22 Huffington Post article, it was James who was with Millican at the end of his life, and who made the decision to take his stricken partner off life support. Millican died on June 11.

Moreover, the Huffington Post reported, Millican barely had any contact at all with his siblings.

The Human Rights Campaign joined the protest that resulted from the paper's policy of not listing unmarried partners, which guarantees that same-sex life partners will not be listed in free obituaries since the Arkansas constitution includes anti-gay language barring marriage equality to same-sex families.

The general manager of the Daily Guard, Pat Jones, explained to GLBT publication Queerty that the exclusion was a matter of policy.

"It's not a gay thing," Jones said. "We don't list unmarried couples, in-laws, or pets in the free obituaries." Jones added that, given the attention to the matter, the paper is "looking into the policy."

The newspaper had reached an agreement with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), a watchdog organization dedicated to promoting positive media portrayals of GLBTs. A June 23 posting at the GLAAD website said that the group would pay the $85 fee for an unedited obituary, and the Batesville Guard had agreed to donate the fee to charity. Moreover, the newspaper had "expressed a desire to apologize to him for this incident directly," GLAAD reported.

The posting went on to say that the newspaper was working together with GLAAD to revise its policies "to ensure this will never happen again. The paper accepted GLAAD's offer to provide suggestions on how to improve their policy to recognize the dignity of gay people."

But the arrangement was short-lived. The Guard ran a scathing editorial on June 24, Reuters reported.

"Now the protests are going forward, and the central figure in the controversy, the gay life partner of a man who died from spinal meningitis, is threatening legal action from a hospital bed," the editorial read.

James has been diagnosed with spinal meningitis, the same ailment that killed his life partner. James told Reuters that he was more determined than ever, saying, "I want a hundred times more now than I did at the beginning of all of this, which was just to have my name listed."

The Guard's editorial made note of James having wanted to have the couple's pets listed in the obit as "children," and said, "Listing pets as children is a direct slap in the face to grieving parents who have buried children, young or old."

The editorial went on to add, "This begs the question of exactly what motive Mr. James had..."

The editorial also said that the newspaper owed no apology to James. The Reuters article noted that the editorial appeared opposite an ad placed in the Guard by the HRC.

James called the editorial an example of "unmitigated gall" on the part of the newspaper, the Reuters article said, and is mulling legal action.

A lawyer for the paper said that the obituary policy was still under review. "I anticipate changes in the policy but I don't know what those will be yet," he said.

GLAAD is now preparing to protest the newspaper, the article said.

The HRC has launched a petition to the paper's managing editor, together with local equality advocacy group the Center for Artistic Revolution.

"There are few times in life when one faces the difficult task of submitting a loved one's life, in the form of black and white copy, into a newspaper's office for an obituary," notes the petition, which expresses disappointment that the paper "only offered to include Mr. James' relationship with his beloved partner if he paid a fee, while married couples are allowed to have their relationships recognized in print without an additional charge.

"Recent Gallup polling shows that a clear majority of Americans support marriage equality for same-sex couples," the petition's text adds.

The Center for Artistic Revolution pointed out that The Batesville Daily Guard generated headlines last fall by helping break the story of an Arkansas school board member whose anti-gay Facebook posting was seen as encouraging GLBT youth to commit suicide.

Clint McCance, a member of the Midland school board in northern Arkansas, made his comments in response to a Facebook campaign encouraging GLBT people and allies to wear purple in memory of gay teens who killed themselves after enduring anti-gay bullying. McCance posted that the only way he would wear purple is "if they all commit suicide."

The posting created a backlash. McCance appeared on Anderson Cooper's CNN news program on Oct. 28, 2010, to announce that he would be stepping down from the school board.

"The only thing I can do is extend my apologies for my poor speech," McCance said during his CNN appearance. "I don't wish death on anyone."