The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) has issued a big kudos to The Associated Press for updating its "gay and lesbian" entry in the 2006 stylebook. (Huh? Where's my copy? I'm still using the 2005 edition that's not nearly as gay.)
As a member of my paper's gay and lesbian caucus, I took part in a meeting in which this very topic was discussed. It was noted that overall, the media's coverage of gays and lesbians is reasonably fair these days. It also seemed that the transgendered community was now experiencing many of the same issues that the gay community was just a few years ago. The AP's updates do seem on the money, namely for encouraging use of the term "transgender," restricting usage of the word "homosexual" and prohibiting use of the term "sexual preference" -- although it seems like they've dodged the issue of whether "gay" is really acceptable as an adjective and a noun (i.e. "Molly, we went to Chelsea. A bunch of queers gays") by removing the "part of speech" category.
In the previous edition of the AP Stylebook (2005), the entry for gay read as follows:
gay -- Acceptable as popular synonym for both male and female homosexuals (n. and adj.), although it is generally associated with males, while lesbian is the more common term for female homosexuals. Avoid references to gay, homosexual or alternative "lifestyle."
The updated 2006 entry reads:
gay -- Used to describe men and women attracted to the same sex, though lesbian is the more common term for women. Preferred over homosexual except in clinical contexts or references to sexual activity. Include sexual orientation only when it is pertinent to a story, and avoid references to "sexual preference" or to a gay or alternative "lifestyle."
The 2006 edition also relocates the sex changes entry under the more accurate and inclusive term transgender. The transsexuals entry, which used to direct readers to the entry for sex changes, now also points to transgender:
transgender -- Use the pronoun preferred by the individuals who have acquired the physical characteristics of the opposite sex or present themselves in a way that does not correspond with their sex at birth. If that preference is not expressed, use the pronoun consistent with the way the individuals live publicly.
Another update for 2006 was the deletion of the term "lesbianism." Prior to 2006, the AP Stylebook entry for "lesbian, lesbianism" had read, "Lowercase in references to homosexual women, except in names of organizations."
I'm sort of neutral on all of this lesbian stuff; I just don't understand that "lifestyle."
(EDITOR'S NOTE: When I went to spellcheck this entry, it suggested for "stylebook" that I might have meant "saddlebags.")
Friday, March 24, 2006
The Style Council
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2 comments:
Does the AP Stylebook say anthing about using the term "openly gay?" Just curious.
I have beef with the AP over their definitions of HIV and AIDS. Maybe I'm just being too critical, but there is a difference. A lot of people don't understand that. Newspaper coverage tends to always say AIDS virus. And while it's logical to assume that AIDS virus means HIV, it should just be HIV. I think it makes an unfair link between HIV and AIDS since today's medicine is now making it more likely that a person with HIV may not neccessarily develop AIDS. (AIDS=syndrome, HIV=virus). Also a person who has HIV, doesn't have AIDS. AIDS is defined by the CDC as someone who has had several opportunistic infections over a period of time, etc. Not every writer has an M.D. and it's fair to assume they don't have to automatically know the difference. But the AP should clarify it in the stylebook so that it trickles down to the reporters and editbots. Maybe eventually people will learn that HIV isn't neccessarily a death sentence if they stick to the one/two/three/six/etc pills a day that is required of them.
Just my 2 cents.
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