Sacramento Businesses Ban Sacramento News & Review Over Gay Cover (Allegedly)

Illustration by Sonia Arneja

The July 2 issue of Sacramento News & Review, it seems, wasn't the most popular issue of SN&R. Why? Well, the cover story -- featuring a safe couple, Ben and Lonny Phillips-Lesenana, and the headline, "5 easy steps to marriage freedom" -- proved very unpopular with Sacto ilk. So much so that the paper's return rate that week was staggeringly high.

OK, fine. But the most frustrating part of the gay marriage issue were the few businesses who carried the alt-weekly, carried it for years, suddenly removed the racks -- most notably the vile 24 Hour Fitness franchise. Was it because of the unshocking, pro-civil rights cover story? Who's to say why, exactly. But as SN&R's Cosmo Garvin explains it:

It was probably just a coincidence, right? Just like the way 24 Hour Fitness banned SN&R from its Roseville location that same week? After years of having a newspaper rack in the store? Surely, just a coincidence.

Likewise, Jimboy’s Tacos, the homegrown chain that’s gotten nothing but love from SN&R over the years, also gave us the boot that week. Hundreds of copies of the gay-marriage issue were thrown in the trash by Jimboy’s employees, and SN&R was removed from seven locations in all.

Tom Boalt, vice president and general manager of Jimboy’s Tacos, said the paper was only officially banned from three stores: the Roseville, Carmichael and Folsom locations. Those three stores are directly owned by the Jimboy’s corporation. The other stores are franchises and can ban or not ban whoever they want.

When asked about the rack removals after the July 2 issue, Jimboy Tacos' Boalt responded with the all too tried and rarely true excuse: too many back-of-book adult ads.

Yeah, right.