Published: 18 March 2013
Region: Worldwide
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) groups and media professionals have heavily criticised the decision of the Association Press (AP) to recommend its journalist to use the terms “couples” or “partners”, instead of “husband” and “wife” for the same-sex marriage.
These recommendations were issued in an internal memo that was leaked by the blogger Jim Romenesko.
AP stated: “We were asked how to report about same-sex couples who call themselves ‘husband’ and ‘wife’. Our view is that such terms may be used in AP stories with attribution. Generally AP uses couples or partners to describe people in civil unions or same-sex marriages”.
Not long after posting this, Romansko has received a letter from the AP spokesman Paul Colford saying that “the internal memo was rewritten and reissued to staff for greater clarity”.
The AP statement was edited to add that “in some circumstances ‘husband’ and ‘wife’ can be used “if those involved have regularly used those terms or in quotes attributed to them”.
AP has used the terms of “husband” and “wife” in reference to same-sex couples before, but with this memo the organisation states its preferences for the use of “couples” and “partners” on same-sex marriage that journalists should follow.
LGBT groups such as the Gay & Lesbian Alliance against Defamation (GLAAD) opposed to the decision of the AP as the use of those terms “are absolutely not appropriate to describe same-sex couples who are married”. “It implies a value judgement on the part of AP – that same-sex marriage “generally” need vocabulary that differentiates them from opposite-sex marriages”, says GLAAD.
Some of the bloggers and reporters also criticised the memo of the American organisation. AP reporter David Crary said that “The AP style guidance will have no effect on how I write about legally married same-sex couples”.
This polemic comes a few months after AP was criticised for banning the use of the term “homophobia” in political or social contexts, arguing that it connoted mental illness.
Related Stories:
AP Stylebook Adds Entry on Mental Health
AP drops ‘homophobia’ from its Stylebook, but not everyone agrees
