Correction In LAT: Oops - He Ain't Gay

May 9th, 2008 1:56 PM

Yikes! How's this for a correction? On Monday, May 5, 2008, the Los Angeles Times published an article about adults dealing with the death of their parents. The main subject of the article was a Dr. Larry Graber, a psychotherapist from Santa Monica.

In the second paragraph of the piece, the Times wrote,

As second-generation Jewish immigrants, Graber's parents were frugal and had worked their way into the upper middle class by running pawn shops. Becoming a psychotherapist and living openly as a gay man, Graber had challenged many of their expectations.

The problem? Graber isn't gay.

Here's the correction from the Times today:

Adult orphans: An article in Monday's Health section that was part of a package on how people handle their parents' deaths focused on Larry Graber, a Santa Monica psychotherapist whose parents died within six months of each other in 2000. Although the article said Graber is an openly gay man, Graber is heterosexual. The reporter misunderstood the name of his partner and misinterpreted references in the conversation, and incorrectly assumed Graber to be gay.

Discuss?

HT: LA Observed.