Wedding Magazine Rejects Ad Featuring Loving Photo of Lesbian Couple

I swear, sometimes it seems like businesses just don't want to succeed.

Weddings Unveiled, a magazine all about abortions JK it's about weddings, recently turned down an ad from photographer Anne Almasy. The reason? The photograph in her ad is of a same-sex couple.

So, let's get this, er, straight. A print magazine in a dying field is turning down cold hard cash? Smart move, they obviously have strong minds for business. It's not like there aren't a googillion other wedding magazines on the market to turn to. I don't even love weddings or magazines (THAT MUCH), and I have three wedding magazines floating around my bedroom right now. I wish this was a joke or exaggeration.

Almasy, for her part, posted a moving open letter in response to the Bigoted Bride (suggested new name, no credit required):

A friend of mine asked me, "Aren't there other publications who would be happy to advertise to the gay community?" And, you know, yes, I'm quite sure there are. But I chose Weddings Unveiled because I'm not trying to advertise to "the gay community." I'm advertising to couples who are getting married. This couple didn't get "gay married." They didn't have a "gay wedding." They got married. They had a wedding. They share their lives, their joys and sorrows, and all the mundane daily things that we all share with our partners. They are just people. In love. Committed to one another.

As you can imagine, this caused a major shitstorm for Weddings Unveiled, who almost immediately had a change of heart, and issued an apology. In part, it reads:


On one hand, it's not hard to read the magazine's apology as an attempt to preserve their dignity in the face of public outrage. On the other hand, there are many businesses that, when confronted with this issue, don't back down about their shitty beliefs.

The fact that they offered to publish Almasy's original ad is great, and she's taking them up on it. In the end, the magazine's readers will see it, and that's what Almasy and her supporters wanted. Yes, the owners of Weddings Unveiled initially acted cowardly, but is their change of heart enough to warrant forgiveness? Or have you already moved on to the 100,000,000,000 other wedding rags on the market?

[Anne Almasy]