This front-page photo, by Washington Post photographer Bill O’leary, caused 27 people to cancel their newspaper subscriptions.

Do read this killer blog post from Washington Post ombudsman Andy Alexander today on complaints from readers about last week’s front-page photo of Jeremy Ames and Taka Ariga kissing. The two men had just emerged from D.C. Superior Court after filing for a marriage license on Wednesday, and a Post photographer captured their happy moment. But at least 27 people were considerably less happy: that’s how many individuals Alexander says canceled their subscriptions because they found the image so offensive.

Alexander takes care to cite the range of complaints he received, from the slur-filled rants to the “think of the children” camp to those who just would have preferred the photo ran somewhere deeper inside the paper. Then he hits the issue right out of the friggin’ park:

Did the Post go too far? Of course not. The photo deserved to be in newspaper and on its Web site, and it warranted front-page display.

News photos capture reality. And the prominent display reflects the historic significance of what was occurring. The recent D.C. Council decision to approve same-sex marriage was the culmination of a decades-long gay rights fight for equality. Same-sex marriage is now legal in the District. The photo of Ames and Ariga kissing simply showed joy that would be exhibited by any couple planning to wed – especially a couple who previously had been denied the legal right to marry.

There was a time, after court-ordered integration, when readers complained about front-page photos of blacks mixing with whites. Today, photo images of same-sex couples capture the same reality of societal change.