Giving the St. Petersburg Times Credit For Their Exclusive

Litbrit wrote about the debut of Susan Stanton. Both Litbrit and I have written about the City of Largo firing Steve Stanton because of his plans to become Susan. I was troubled by tho paragraphs in the St. Petersburg Times article.

He had been Largo's city manager for 14 years. He had rappeled with the firefighters and broken his nose with the SWAT team. When he decided to become a woman, he told only a few people. His wife knew, his son did not. But in February someone told the newspaper.

Then came the speedy firing, and then CNN, the Daily Show and Larry King. Then came the pack of lesbian lawyers telling him whom to talk to, what to say.

The "newspaper" that broke the story was the St. Petersburg Times. They didn't even have the heart to take credit for their scoop. They called the article a "Times exclusive." They failed to mention that Stanton asked them to hold on the story until he could tell his son. The Times went forward.

In February, the Stanton story was an exclusive. In May, the article was published by a unnamed newspaper. How things change in the matter of months.

Side note: is anyone else troubled by Lane DeGregory refering to Stanton's legal council as a "pack of lesbian lawyers." What the hell does he mean by that?