A Pennsylvania newspaper is facing a firestorm of criticism after the editorial board said it would "very strictly limit" op-eds and letters against same-sex marriage on the heels of Friday's historic Supreme Court ruling. 

PennLive/The Patriot-News in Harrisburg has issued a string of statements on its opinion page policies since the ruling -- which legalized gay marriage nationwide -- and by Saturday morning, appeared to have softened its op-ed restrictions on the subject.  

But the newspaper initially took a hard-line stance. Editorial Page Editor John Micek tweeted shortly after the ruling that the newspaper would "no longer accept" or print op-eds and letters to the editor in opposition to same-sex marriage. 

He then tweeted:

The editorial board then began to dial back, in the face of apparent criticism from readers. 

A newspaper editorial published online was updated Friday afternoon to clarify the board's op-ed policy. In the editorial, which cheered the decision and said majority opinion author Justice Anthony Kennedy "nailed it," the board issued the following statement: 

"As a result of Friday's ruling, PennLive/The Patriot-News will very strictly limit op-Eds and letters to the editor in opposition to same-sex marriage. 

"These unions are now the law of the land. And we will not publish such letters and op-Eds any more than we would publish those that are racist, sexist or anti-Semitic. 

"We will, however, for a limited time, accept letters and op-Eds on the high court's decision and its legal merits." 

Micek also tweeted: 

This apparently did not satisfy readers, who posted a cascade of critical comments online. One read: "Clearly, PennLive's policy is not to limit criticism of settled law, but rather to limit criticism of settled law that its editors like." 

Saying he had been inundated with critical emails and phone calls, Micek then apologized in a column on Saturday morning -- saying they had made a "very genuine attempt at fostering a civil discussion" but recognize that "there are people of good conscience and of goodwill who will disagree with Friday's high court ruling." 

He wrote: "They are, and always will be, welcome in these pages, along with all others of goodwill, who seek to have an intelligent and reasoned debate on the issues of the day. These pages, I remind myself finally, belong to the people of Central Pennsylvania. I'm a conduit, I recognize, for them to share their views and to have the arguments that make us better as a people. And all views are -- and always will be -- welcome." 

Micek stressed that nobody at the newspaper is an opponent of the First Amendment. But he stressed that a civil debate is important, and the opinion page would draw the line when it comes to offensive speech. 

"More than once yesterday I was referred to as 'f****t-lover,' among other slurs," he wrote. "And that's the point that I was trying to make with our statement: We will not publish such slurs any more than we would publish racist, sexist or anti-Semitic speech. There are ways to intelligently discuss an issue. The use of playground insults is not among them. And they are not welcome at PennLive/The Patriot-News."