Queers are flaming mad over Kroger's decision to yank Nashville's gay weekly, Out and About. The grocery chain first started carrying the fag rag last month, but the love affair didn't last long.

When asked to explain their decision, a Kroger flack released the following statement:

The free publication racks in many Kroger stores are managed by an outside organization that arranges distribution agreements with individual publications. We have had a long-standing policy in place that prohibits the third party from distributing publications that promote political, religious or other specific agendas. If a publication is offered that does not meet the guidelines mentioned above, we do ask the distributor to remove it. That is what recently happened when this publication was placed on our free rack.

According to Out and About publisher, Jerry Jones, there's more than meets the eye.

A local Kroger employee told him that a religious group promised to “unleash a fury they had never seen if they didn’t remove the publication.” While Kroger may have fled the Bible-thumpers, they've certainly pissed off some powerful gays. And those gays are gearing up for a fight of their own.

New York-based Troy Masters, who publishes Gay City News, caught wind of the story, he immediately called Kroger to complain. Not surprisingly, Kroger didn't feel like chatting. So, Masters contacted the New York City's Comptrollers Office to see if they invest in Kroger, which they do, but maybe not for long. From Nashville Scene:

[Masters] contacted New York City’s comptroller’s office, which has a policy prohibiting the city from investing in any company that engages in discrimination.Apparently, New York City is a major shareholder in Kroger, holding more than $89 million in the supermarket’s stock. On Tuesday, Masters asked a spokesman for the city’s comptroller’s office if this was worth investigating, to which he responded, “Absolutely. I’m going to call their investor relations people.”

Ah, the power of the gay – a Nashville rag gets banned by a Cincinnati-based supermarket chain, a New York sympathizer does some digging and pressures New York City's government to take nearly 90 million bones from said Cincinnati-based grocer. No wonder all those religious wackos are so scared of us….