Elton John Magazine Censored By 'Family Shield' in Supermarket

By Zach Dionne Posted Jan 26th 2011 03:21PM

A Harps supermarket in Mountain View, Ark., censored an Us Weekly cover featuring Elton John, husband David Furnish and their new baby, Zachary. Deemed inappropriate for "young Harps shoppers," the store placed a "family shield" in front of the magazine.

Twitter user @jennhudd saw the censored cover and began tweeting a photo to celebrities like Ellen DeGeneres, Anderson Cooper and Neil Patrick Harris, asking them to "bring attention" to the store's decision.

The Mountain View Harps responded to a call from PopEater on Wednesday afternoon with a curt "no comment" before hanging up. A call to the corporate office had us placed on hold, redirected and sent to a voice mail when asked for official comment.

CoverAwards.com had better luck speaking to Harps -- a cashier told the site Harps was "in a no-win situation" as children being shielded from the magazine cover would "have to know at some point [about gay families]."

PopEater's Naughty But Nice Rob Shuter reported that the Elton John cover sold poorly and wondered if America wasn't ready for "two men and a baby." Now he calls the censorship "very sad," asking, "We can let our families watch 'Jersey Shore' but not see a picture of Elton, his partner and their beautful baby boy?"

After originating the picture of the censored cover, @jennhudd reported the "family shields" had been removed, likely as a result of the Internet's interest in the issue. Jennifer sent a series of tweets suggesting offended parties call the Harps office and file complaints.

GLAADblog also spoke to Harps. The account:

I spoke with Harps Corporate Executive Assistant Marty Yarborough, who told me that every Harps store is equipped with these shields and that they get put up whenever customers complain about the content of a magazine cover. She said the word from the store about this particular cover was that "several" customers had complained, so the shield went up. She also confirmed that these shields are utilized on a store-by-store basis, so the magazine would not have been covered up at any of the other Harps locations, unless customers complained there as well. She also told me that the usage of the shield on this particular cover is "in no way our opinion on this issue." She quickly added, "we do not have an opinion on this issue."

BuzzFeed reports Harps has more than 60 locations in Arkansas, Missouri and Oklahoma.

Elton John and David Furnish's son was born via a surrogate on Christmas Day. Zachary is the first child for John, 62, and Furnish, 48. The couple married in 2005 after being together for 12 years.

Based on Elton's recent sentiment for gay marriage opponents (hint: it involved an "F" and a "you"), we can assume he won't take kindly to being family-shielded in his moment of joy.

►Elton John Doesn't Care if His Son Is Gay or Straight

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Tags: David Furnish, Elton John

Comments

(1203)

Wednesday 26 January

By Lee

Highest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

Then look the other way just like people do with diet mags, Playboy, Play girl.....no one forces you to pick it up or even read it....that is your right...simply look away, don;t buy, don't promote

Thursday 27 January

By Jennifer

Vote down Vote up Report this

So, we should censor everything that YOU don't agree with..? Simple solution.. DON'T BUY IT!!!

By Teresa

Maybe you need to learn how to spell if you want to be taken seriously.

By Jan

Lowest Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

The magazine should have been placed with the toilet paper!

By Bunny

With all the terror in the world today, bombs going off and killing people, terrible floods, earthquakes, and other such acts...Seeing two people who love one another with their baby should be refreshing. We need more love in the would. I'll take it in any form...

By SongbirdinNH

Low Ranked Vote down Vote up Report this

Ever heard of something called Truth? A cover picture of two males posing with a child as if that child were the product of their "coupling" is a LIE! That kind of lie is sowing highly destructive confusion into the minds of our young people. It absolutely tramples on the truth that only a male-female union is capable of offspring, and elevates personal desire above Truth. Yes, I said "personal desire," NOT Love!! Because this attitude is anything but Love.

By bestbunny10

benji may not spell well but is words make sense.

By Lori walker

Give Gay's the right to adopt They are fully able to give a child all the love and guidance they need Take afoster care kid and give him a loving hom it's acrime they can't do that
Marriage NO It's sacred to Men and women

By SpringPersephone

If marriage is such a sacred straight institution why are there so many divorce cases?

By Anonymous

Like marriage is so sacred with all the divorces going on in today's world. Wake Up! It's not 1950 anymore. Learn the history of marriage you Moron!

High Rank Vote down Vote up Report this

And why shouldn't it be just as sacred to me..?

By david

I'll take someone who can't spell over someone who judges someone over who they love. Nice job Teresa, ignore the issue and try to make someone feel small rather than adding value. You maybe in line for a career in American politics!

By jsactor

Most of these mags are trash, but what makes this any worse than a drgged out celebrity or a dozen other covers. I for one would much rather my kids see a loving gay relationship than some of the messed up, drugged out straight "Role Models" out there. Save the hate for things that make a difference in your lives.

By JLM

You are so right!!!

By carl

Now that he is even fully fed up with united states policies on equality He will be even more totally pissed off by this and I cannot say that I would blame him but doesn't it seem like celebrities take the brunt of the shoot of bows and arrows when they live an open and honest life something that the majority of us wouldn't have too try and handle celebs have too take it all. what is offensive about an alternative family?

By Melissa

I'm not sure exactly what your point is, but I think you were saying that Elton didn't like the way homosexuals are treated in the US and this will make him more mad at us. But this thing is, these magazines are weekly... in a few days it will disappear and some new garbage will take its place. This was an isolated incident in ONE store in some podunk Arkansas town. Had this one person not gotten their bowels in an uproar over a piece of plastic covering a magazine cover in a grocery store, 99.99% of the people in Arkansas alone wouldn't even have been aware of it, much less anyone else in the world. And for the record, I really dislaike having to see most all magazine covers at the check out in stores. Cosmo and Glamour and their sex headlines, the tabloids with their stories of horrible celebrity meltdowns, the latest celeb that is too fat/too skinny/drunk/on drugs/cheating... I'd like to see plastic covers on most all of them... And as for my opinion of Elton John and his gay lover... what disgusts me most is that as old as they are, they stand a good chance of not living to see that child graduate high school, or at least will be feeble and incontinent by that time.

By Rabbi T

Hey, to most of us on the East Coast, living in Arkansas IS living an alternative lifestyle.

By Polar Patrol

You're pathetic. There are countless kids raised by gay couples that are perfectly fine, maybe better even since gay families, unfortunately, are made to feel "they have something to prove." The only reason that baby might be messed up is because it's a celebrity baby - not because the parents are gay. As for kids seeing the cover - seeing what? Two men and a baby? It's not like they're kissing or even holding hands! I wouldn't have thought twice about this as a kid. And if a parent really feels that their child can't handle the knowledge of a same-sex couple, then if he/she asks tell him it's Elton's brother! No where on their does it mention "partners," "lovers," etc.

By reverend ike

oh please

Tuesday 01 February

By XYZ

But no problem with John Travolta's new arrival plastered across a magazine cover, eh?

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