Two men kissing Part 2: The counterattack

By Andy Alexander

First, there was the assault on The Post for publishing a photo of two men kissing. Now, the counterattack.



Tuesday's Omblog noted that The Post had taken heat from readers upset by the March 4 photo taken outside D.C. Court as the District began accepting license applications for same-sex marriages. In calls and e-mails, many readers said the image had offended their sensibilities. More than two dozen canceled their subscriptions.



But the Omblog item prompted a backlash. It was picked up by bloggers, wire services and broadcast outlets, prompting hundreds of e-mails, calls and online comments praising The Post. Those I’ve received are running more than 10-to-1 in support of the decision to run the photo. They’re coming from around the globe.



“It happened, it’s fact, and the photo was in no way offensive,” e-mailed Dylan Lacey of Brisbane, Australia. “I regret that you lost subscribers and that the Post will be financially worse off in some way, but hopefully your news subscribers will more than make up for it.”



Nearly 20 people who e-mailed or offered online comments said they wanted to fill the void left by those who canceled.



“It’s been a few years since I let my subscription lapse. The Post can count on my resubscription as a replacement for any one of the narrow-minded cancelers,” wrote one online commenter who goes by “scorbett1976.”



“I just subscribed to the paper for the first time since I moved out here 6 years ago BECAUSE of this!” added another commenter, “melissa4033.”



No response yet from The Post’s circulation department on how many people in recent days cited the photo as the reason for starting a subscription.



Michael Larabee, who handles letters to the editor for The Post, said he has received a handful of supportive letters after receiving a small number critical of The Post’s decision. He hopes to run several in Saturday’s “Free for All” section.



The D.C. Council voted in December to legalize same-sex marriage. The Post photo of Jeremy Ames and Taka Ariga briefly kissing was taken March 3, the day the District began accepting marriage licenses. The District began issuing them this past Tuesday, and some same-sex couples immediately held marriage ceremonies.



Among those who e-mailed the ombudsman were several who applauded The Post’s decision to run the photo, but who also said they were afraid to openly express their support for fear of being victimized by friends, co-workers or family members who don’t know about, or don’t approve of, their sexual orientation.



The photo captured “a great step towards Civil Rights and Equality for all people,” e-mailed Brandon, who lives in suburban St. Louis. He asked that his last name not be used out of fear that he would receive “negative backlash” from family members who are “less than supportive of the fact that I’m homosexual.”



But some remain adamantly opposed to the photo.



“The Nation’s Capital is now Sodom and Gomorrah and it too will be destroyed, not by God, but by mankind,” wrote “Ward4DC,” an online commenter. “I hope the Washington Post will go out of business soon. Good riddance to the Washington Post.”



A commenter going by “battleground51” added: “Big, color photos of homosexuals hugging and smooching shows pure contempt for the values of the vast majority of Americans...I’m sure WaPo honchos think they are supporting a good cause. That’s their opinion only. It just does not reflect America, as a whole.”



But it does reflect what is happening in the District of Columbia, where same-sex marriage is legal.

