AGLBICAL
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AVOIDING OFFENSIVE
LANGUAGE
Terminology to Avoid
OFFENSIVE:
"homosexual" (as a n. or adj.)
PREFERRED: "gay" (adj.); "gay man" or "lesbian" (n.)
Please use "lesbian" or "gay man" to describe people attracted to members of the same sex. Because of the clinical history of the word "homosexual," it has been adopted by anti-gay extremists to suggest that lesbians and gay men are somehow diseased or psychologically/emotionally disordered - notions discredited by both the American Psychological Association and the American Psychiatric Association in the 1970s. Please avoid using "homosexual" except in direct quotes. Please also avoid using "homosexual" as a style variation simply to avoid repeated use of the word "gay."
OFFENSIVE: "homosexual relations/relationship," "homosexual couple," "homosexual sex," etc.
PREFERRED: "relationship" (or "sexual relationship"), "couple" (or, if necessary, "gay couple"), "sex," etc.
Identifying a same-sex couple as "a homosexual couple," characterizing their relationship as "a homosexual relationship," or identifying their intimacy as "homosexual sex" is offensive and should be avoided. These constructions are frequently used by anti-gay extremists to denigrate gay and lesbian people, couples and relationships. As a rule, try to avoid labeling an activity, emotion or relationship "gay" or "lesbian" unless you would call the same activity, emotion or relationship "straight" if engaged in by someone of another sexual orientation. In most cases, your readers, viewers or listeners will be able to discern people's genders and/or sexual orientations through the names of the parties involved your depictions of their relationships, and your use of pronouns.
OFFENSIVE: "sexual preference"
PREFERRED: "sexual orientation"
The phrase "sexual preference" is generally used to suggest that being lesbian or gay is a choice and therefore "curable." The term "sexual orientation" is the accurate description of an individual's enduring physical, romantic, emotional and/or spiritual attraction to members of the same and/or opposite sex and is inclusive of lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and heterosexual men and women.
OFFENSIVE: "gay lifestyle" or "homosexual lifestyle"
PREFERRED: "lesbian" or "gay"
There is no single lesbian or gay lifestyle. Lesbians and gay men are diverse in the ways they lead their lives. The phrase "gay lifestyle" is used to denigrate lesbians and gay men, suggesting that their sexual orientation is a choice and therefore "curable."
OFFENSIVE: "admitted homosexual" or "avowed homosexual”
PREFERRED: "openly lesbian" or "openly gay"
Dated term used to describe those who are openly lesbian or gay or who have recently come out of the closet. The words "admitted" or "avowed" suggest that being a lesbian or gay man is somehow shameful or inherently secretive. Avoid the use of the word "homosexual" in either case.
OFFENSIVE: "gay agenda" or "homosexual agenda"
PREFERRED: "lesbian and gay civil rights movement" or "lesbian and gay movement" Lesbians and gay men are as diverse in our political beliefs as other communities. Our commitment to equal rights is one we share with civil rights advocates who are not necessarily lesbian or gay. "Lesbian and gay movement" accurately describes the historical effort to achieve understanding and equal treatment for gays and lesbians. Notions of a "homosexual agenda" are rhetorical inventions of anti-gay extremists seeking to portray as sinister the lesbian and gay civil rights movement.
OFFENSIVE: "special rights"
PREFERRED: "equal rights" or "equal protection"
Anti-gay extremists frequently characterize civil rights and equal protection of the law for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender Americans as "special rights" in an attempt to energize opposition to anti-discrimination and equal opportunity laws.
"fag," "faggot," "dyke," "homo," "queen," "she-male," "he-she," "it," "tranny" and similar epithets.
The criteria for using these derogatory terms should be the same as
those applied to hate words for other groups: they should not be used
except in a direct quote which reveals the bias of the person quoted. So
that such words are not given credibility in the media, it is preferred
that reporters say, "The person used a derogatory word for a lesbian,
gay man or transgender person."
"deviant,"
"disordered," "dysfunctional," "diseased," "perverted," "destructive"
and similar descriptions
The notion that being gay or lesbian is a psychological disorder was
discredited by the American Psychological Association and the American
Psychiatric Association in the 1970s. Today, words such as "deviant,"
"diseased" and "disordered" often are used to portray lesbians and gay
men as less than human, mentally ill, or as a danger to society. Words
such as these should be avoided in stories about the lesbian and gay
community. If they must be used, they should be quoted directly in a way
that reveals the bias of the person being quoted.
Associating gay men,
lesbians, same-sex releationships or homosexuality with pedophilia,
child sexual abuse, bestiality, bigamy, polygamy, adultery and incest.
Homosexuality and/or being gay is not synonymous with pedophilia, child
sexual abuse, bestiality, bigamy, polygamy, adultery and/or incest.
These associations often are used to suggest that lesbians and gay men
pose a threat to society, to families, and to children in particular.
Such suggestions are defamatory and should be avoided, except in a
direct quote which reveals the bias of the person quoted.
http://www.glaad.org/media/guide/offensive.php