'DP' publishes apology for ad

The ad offered a Valentine's Day special for the Polo Bay nightclub which stated in fine print that the special was open to couples who "must be of the opposite sex." A group of students and faculty calling itself the Valentine's Day Coalition protested the ad and filed complaints with the Philadelphia Human Relations Coalition against both the DP and the nightclub. The group has since agreed to drop the complaints against the DP, which editors of the paper have maintained are groundless. The apology stated that the DP did not realize that the offensive statement had been included in the ad. "If the fine print at issue had been seen prior to publication, the ad would not have been published containing that language, because it appears to constitute unlawful discrimination based on sexual orientation," the statement read. "The DP regrets that the incident occurred." The statement was part of an agreement made between the DP and the coalition, which states that, among other things, the paper will inform all advertisers that unlawfully discriminatory ads will not be printed and that members of the DP staff will meet with the coalition in the future to continue discussions. Executive Editor Helen Jung said that she is glad the matter is resolved. "It was important to us that we resolve this matter between the coalition and ourselves," Jung said. "We did not want a governmental agency interfering with and limiting our freedom of the press." Coalition member Marc Stein said he was satisfied with the statement. "For the most part I'm really pleased," Stein said. "Once the DP and the Valentine's Day Coalition sat down and talked, we were able to make a great deal of progress. It's really too bad it had to take 10 months." Stein said that the agreement was a positive move. "In terms of the eight-part agreement, the DP apology is really only the first step, and we look forward to the DP fulfilling all of its other promises," Stein said. "I hope that the DP's positive action will lead to greater student awareness of the problems of day-to-day heterosexism at Penn."

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