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)

Thursday 27 January

By Clayton Smith

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So true even for the hetro phobe haters. There appears to be more homo's that hate the normal way of life than hetro's.

Wednesday 26 January

By Mike

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Hey stu, are you telling us that YOU went to college? Is that where you learned that "simpleton" is two words (and misspelled at that), and that the past tense of "ask" is "aske"? Was it in college that you learned to debate by telling people with whom you disagree that their mothers should have aborted them? Have you learned nothing from the national conversation about civility?

By dma

Talk about 'roghts'.....it is the store's right to do what they want. They are not preventing anyone from buying the magazine. They are doing what they feel is 'right'. Works both ways.....

By Chris

And we have the right to tell them they're wrong for doing so. No one said they COULDN'T do it; we said they're WRONG for it. There's a difference. Having the right to do something doesn't mean having the right to do something without being criticized for it on moral grounds.

By Jenn

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They do have a right to do what they want, but the reason it affects others is the message they are sending. That somehow being Gay is not acceptable. It is the way they were born and God thinks it is acceptable or he wouldn't have created them. The Bible was not written by God, it was written by men many centuries ago and it cannot be taken literally. There are so many things in there that don't apply. God created all his children and loves them all.

By ron

oxymoron [same sex marriage]no such thing as 2 men being married with children on this planet people

By Jet

What??? You are just lame. Marriage is a legal contract and not a universal truth.

By Jennifer

I do believe that Elton John just proved you wrong...

By AnnyMsMm

Can we cover ALL the tabloid covers?

By kimd

This is f*^king ridiculous.They show all sorts of magazines with half naked men and women on the covers but you can't have a picture of a happy family with a brand new baby? No wonder people in other countries laugh at us.

By Mary

Yes "Potty Mouth" kimd, there are lots of vulgar magazines on the stands but that doesn't make it morally right. Who cares what the rest of the world thinks of us anyway. They are in worse shape than we are. Who cares if they laugh at us. The last laugh just may be on them.

Saturday 05 February

By Someone

you could at least source the original story, which was NOT coverawards. UGH

By Kimbo

Who really gives a rats behind about a magazine cover of
two old Queens and their turkey baster kid. I would rather
hear a fat boy flagelate than a pretty girl sign. You go girls!

By gprbuilder

Their boy? Does one of them have a V-gina?

By Rothay

A fact which this ageing queen Elton John and his lover forget is that sodomy never has and never will produce the son they speak of. Sodomy is what homosexuals practice. A dangerous practice. Homosexuals keep secret the horrific injuries they suffer from this practice, some of which lead to life long use of depends. Yet still they scream about their rights but not their personal rights, choice, to look after their health. If this opinion makes me "homophobic," I laugh. These pathetic individals have to be pitied not hated.

By Laurie

I'm a heterosexual female and I've "practised" sodomy. I've gotten quite good at it!!But that doesnt make me a homosexual, does it?

By QueenKate

Ok, more like a man, his son and grandson....

By MonkeyCheez52

Why did they use a surrogate? Oh yea...

By Debbie

LOL @ QueenKate! good one! Actually though, because kids are so curious by nature, the "family shield" will only draw MORE attention to the magazine. They'll be wanting to know what the shield is blocking!

By bennifer01

Rebecca you and anyone else who has a "problem" with this is dumb as a sack of bricks! (Generally, I don't insult sacks of bricks but...) If children are old enough to know who Elton John is, and smart enough to put 2+2 together (realize the picture is of two gay men with a baby) then they are damn old enough to know the truth! For the love of sweet Mary!!! it's just a picture of two men with a baby! Honestly, I think what is more messed up is that Elton will be....oh, yeah DEAD by the time the kids out of High School!

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