I've heard from many readers today about a TV news report about The Star's policy on announcements of gay marriages in the "Celebrations" section on Sunday. I don't normally address issues relating to sections of the paper outside the newsroom, as that's not really my purview, but I think I need to clear this one up.

At the time the couple contacted the Classified division last week, it was the first time I'm aware of that the question had been raised in a long time. The policy was put in place three publishers ago, before states began legalizing marriage and other unions between gay couples.

The Star's senior management met last Thursday morning to review the old policy, and decided to change it. I replied to the TV reporter's request for comment last week immediately after that policy meeting, but did not receive a response. The new "Celebrations" will debut in the near future.

By the way, the feedback I've heard about the new policy has been 100% positive with one exception -- from a reader who was extremely nice and perfectly reasonable in her dissent from the paper's decision.