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 Minneapolis Gay Pride & Local Newspaper End
Dispute
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
November 17, 2006 - 12:01 am ET
(Minneapolis, Minnesota) A lawsuit filed
after the Star Tribune refused to run an ad for Twin Cities Pride has been
dropped, but neither side will discuss the settlement.
The lawsuit accused the newspaper of
discrimination and breach of contract.
The dispute began in 2004 after the Star Tribune
agreed to advertise Pride and become a sponsor. But when the ads, which
contained a small picture of two men kissing, were delivered to the paper the
company balked and refused to run them.
Pride Twin Cities first filed a complaint with
the Minneapolis Commission on Civil Rights saying that the paper was trying to
impose its own standards on the community. The commission later ruled that it
did not have jurisdiction to hear the case.
Pride then filed a lawsuit in Hennepin County
District Court. The suit said that the Star Tribune applied different standards
for heterosexual-based advertising than for ads from the gay community. The suit
said that the company had in the past accepted ads of opposite-sex couples
kissing.
The lawsuit also alleged that the paper refused
to print ads submitted to replace the "kiss ad".
Both sides in the dispute announced this week
that a settlement had been reached. But neither side will say how the
agreement was arrived at or whether the paper would run a similar ad in the
future.
The Minneapolis-St Paul Metro Transit system ran
into its own gay ad dispute as well this year when it allowed a driver to
refused to operate a bus as long as it had an ad for a local gay publication. (story)
The transit company later said it had made a
mistake.
©365Gay.com 2006
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