The Tennessee Equality Project was trumpeting a bit of good news for Out & About Newspaper, one of the most prominent local outlets for GLBT news.
In a recent battle over distribution rights, the paper wound up winning a victory in a dispute that saw them enter and then quickly asked to leave local Kroger stores. Read the full article for details. The victory was won in part with a display of economic might, in which the GLBT community and its supporters saved receipts from shoppers visiting non-Kroger stores for groceries.
Harris Teeter, however, is still drawing ire from the local GLBT community for continuing a partial reversal of distribution status for O&AN. Rightfully so, in my opinion. I prefer not to have the corporate headquarters of my local grocery stores dictating morality to me, and such moral authoritarianism in the shopping aisle is the only reason I can imagine to limit equal access for free publications of this variety. I could see preventing publications promoting hate, but O&AN is a news publication serving a community with editorial merit fully on par with any of Nashville’s other niche publications.
In the end, a strong dose of capitalism bolstered the common sense outcome for area Kroger stores, and I can only hope that common sense wins out in the case of Harris Teeter. Comments to Harris Teeter can be directed here.
I’m glad to see that Greed can still be more powerful than Hatred. But I think that Hatred is still winning the immigration battle.