A Utah newspaper sparked a war of words after publishing a lesbian couple's civil union announcement. And, rather than folding to cancellation demands and irate readers, nor blatantly supporting the scores of supporters, the paper decided to boil it all down to the nitty gritty green:

…Kresta Spencer and Carrie Taylor's ad about their upcoming union in Salt Lake City ran July 27 in The Herald-Journal.

Since then, the newspaper has received two letters to the editor (one for and one against), 10 e-mails, several phone calls and four subscription cancellations over publication of the announcement.

A Friday letter to the editor denouncing the ad drew about 160 pro and con comments on the paper's Web site by late Monday.
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The paper released a statement Friday, saying editors followed a policy on gay-wedding announcements – written in 2006 in case the situation ever arose. The Spencer-Taylor ad was the first. "Since wedding announcements are paid space…the newspaper management feels a responsibility to give all paying customers equal access to the service," the statement read.

Money: a value we can all understand…