A same-sex couple is considering legal action against a Texas newspaper that deliberately omitted to publish the name of the grieving son's husband in his mother's obituary.
Barry Giles commissioned the newspaper Olton Enterprise to publish an obituary for his mother, Brenda Light, for its Feb. 23 edition. He was surprised that the name of his husband, John Gambill, was taken out of the tribute.
The obituary for Giles' mother should've read: "Those left to cherish her memories include her son, Barry Giles, and his husband, John Gambill, of Dallas." The newspaper's owner, Phillip Hamilton, admitted he made the decision to cut the husband's name out without telling the couple.
"It is my religious conviction that a male cannot have a husband," Hamilton stated. "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."
Giles and Gambill have been together for 31 years. They often went on trips abroad with Giles' mother and were just back from another trip with her before her passing on Feb. 14.
Gambill referred to Light fondly as his second mom. He felt that the newspaper erased him out of her life by omitting his name. The couple called up Olton Enterprises to clarify what happened to the obituary and Hamilton was upfront to them about what he did.
The newspaper has a circulation for about 2,000 people in a small Texas district. The couple also paid to publish the obituary in other newspapers where Gambill's name was not taken out.
Many people went onto the newspaper's Facebook page to criticize Hamilton's decision as unprofessional. One commenter argued that Olton Enterprises is not a religious organization and it should have printed the tribute as that was her family.
