Rural Texas newspaper publisher deletes reference to same-sex partner in obituary, citing religious reasons

Olton, Texas (Wikipedia map)

A rural Texas newspaper is under fire after the publisher omitted a man's husband from an obituary because of religious convictions, KDFW-TV in Dallas reports.

Barry Giles and John Gambill have been together for 31 years, and both had a close relationship with Giles' mother, Brenda Light. When Light passed away in February, the Dallas couple bought an obituary in her hometown paper, the Olton Enterprise. The submitted obit said "Those left to cherish her memory include her son, Barry Giles and his husband, John Gambill of Dallas." But when the obit came out, Gambill wasn't in it, KDFW reports.

Gambill said that when he called Publisher Phillip Hamilton and asked why, Hamilton said only, "Because I wanted to." Hamilton is also a Baptist pastor, and though he declined an interview with KDFW, he issued a statement saying: "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 statement went on: "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 couple is considering legal action, but an appellate attorney not involved with the case told KDFW Hamilton has a stronger legal footing: "A newspaper cannot knowingly or recklessly publish false information," said Chad Ruback. "Other than that, the First Amendment grants the newspaper extremely broad rights in deciding what information to publish and what information not to publish."