Jul 09, 2004  |  By: ADRIAN BRUNE  | COMMENTS     

press time. “We think our readers are interested.”

Wilson, who hasn’t lived in Oil City since 1982, said that in taking out the announcement in his hometown paper, he primarily wanted to try to reach out to gay youths to show them they aren’t alone and should be proud of who they are.

“This was my way of showing … people leading positive lives,” Wilson said. “They could hopefully see their own stories finally reflected in the newspaper.”

Wilson, who has made a career dealing with social justice issues, currently works for the Public Welfare Foundation in Washington.

“I worry about people who can’t defend themselves, and young people who need to learn and be guided,” he said. Though he knew he was gay at age 4 or 5, Wilson did not come out until college. Throughout high school, he said he was often asked if he was a “faggot” because he did not date girls.

“They were easy and hurtful words to throw around, and they have a deep and lasting impact,” he said.

Wilson met Hamer, a Harvard-educated geneticist and author of two books, in 1996 while working at a National Gay & Lesbian Task Force event celebrating the inclusion of sexual orientation as a protected class in South Africa’s constitution. They’ve been together for five years.

Hamer and Wilson had long planned for a commitment ceremony, but decided to officially wed after Canada made it a possibility, opting not to wait for the Massachusetts ruling to take effect legalizing same-sex marriage there. Wilson said he and Hamer saw the marriage and its announcement as an important personal commitment, but also as a way to open up dialogue about gay rights.

“The Times was more concerned about lineage