DMN takes bold stand against firing people for being gay
June 30th, 2008What’s next, an editorial condemning child abuse?
The DMN really went out on a limb Saturday with this editorial saying it was wrong for Collin County to force Teen Court coordinator Justin Nichols to resign for being gay. Oh well, I guess we should just be glad The DMN didn’t give Rod Dreher or Kelly Shackleford another soapbox from which to rant against gay marriage this week.
Anyhow, I did want to point something out about The DMN’s coverage of the Nichols situation. Perhaps I’m guilty of being overly defensive here, but it seems to me that The DMN’s stories and now this editorial have on some level implied that Dallas Voice outed Nichols, which is simply not true. A standard line from The DMN’s stories about Nichols has been:
“The controversy began in March after the Dallas Voice, a weekly gay and lesbian newspaper, ran a story about Mr. Nichols’ city council candidacy that mentioned his sexual orientation.”
While technically accurate, that sentence is misleading, and the following line from Sunday’s editorial is even worse:
“A gay newspaper made it public that Mr. Nichols was gay during his unsuccessful campaign for Plano City Council this year.”
Nichols has been out since he was 16, and he sought and received an endorsement from the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, which only endorses gay candidates, prior to the Voice’s story about him in March. What’s more, Nichols consented to be interview — and openly discuss his sexual orientation — for our initial story about his candidacy. Dallas Voice has strict policies about outing people, and I’m confident we’re on solid ethical ground here. As for The DMN, well, not so much.
