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Compiled By GayToday
Washington, DC--Merriam-Webster, America's self-proclaimed "foremost
publisher of language-related reference works," announced Monday that it
will be removing the word "homosexual" from its online thesaurus and from
future print editions, according to a company spokesperson in an exclusive
interview with GAYBC Radio Network. Following criticism that the thesaurus included defamatory--and sometimes incorrect --slurs against gays such as "faggot," "fruit," and "pederast," while not listing defamatory words for other minorities, the company removed the reference guide from its Web site and from America Online late Friday night. Merriam-Webster's Marketing Director Deborah Burns disclosed the new policy this afternoon in an exclusive interview on GAYBC Radio Network's talk show Hangin'OUT. The show included a panel discussion with Ms. Burns, Mike Webb (who discovered the problem with the thesaurus), John Aravosis of Wired Strategies (who led the effort to spread the word online community and to the media), and John McMullen, president of GAYBC.
"I applaud Merriam-Webster for taking such a quick and decisive stand
against homophobia," said John Aravosis, president of Wired Strategies, a
political Internet consulting firm in Washington, D.C. "I also thank AOL
for joining Merriam-Webster in pulling the thesaurus off-line Friday night.
Both companies acted quickly to treat Gay people with the same respect
they accord other minorities, and that's all we were asking for," he said.
"We're pleased to know that after reporting these matters to the Gay and Lesbian community the responsiveness of our listeners helped to drive a quick resolution to this unfortunate editorial blunder," said John McMullen of GAYBC. Advocates noted that there will still have to be continued discussions with Merriam-Webster to ensure that the review is done properly.
Copies of the defamatory thesaurus entries for the word "homosexual," and previous press releases, can be found online at Text: Merriam-Webster Inc. Statement January 18, 1999 Merriam-Webster recently learned of problems regarding the inclusion of offensive words for the term homosexual in its thesaurus. Merriam-Webster acknowledges that inclusion of these words was the result of an error on its part, and it fully extends its apologies. Long-standing editorial policy for this thesaurus excludes offensive or disparaging terms from the word lists. This policy, mistakenly, was not extended to the entry for the word homosexual. The company is grateful to have this situation brought to its attention, and it is taking immediate action to ensure this policy is implemented consistently. On learning of this situation, Merriam-Webster immediately took down its online thesaurus database, which can be found at www.m-w.com, and asked America Online to do the same with the Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus that is located on AOL. These thesauruses will remain unavailable until Merriam-Webster makes the changes that bring its treatment of this word into conformity with editorial policy. These changes will include the removal of entries for the word homosexual. This keeps the thesaurus consistent, as there are no entries for racial or ethnic minorities such as Jews, Hispanics, and Blacks. In addition, an editorial review will continue to determine whether there are other entries that do not comply with the editorial policies of the thesaurus. This work is a top priority at Merriam-Webster, and it hopes to have its thesauruses up and running at both www.m-w.com and AOL in approximately a week. Changes will be reflected in the on-line database at that time. Print versions of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Thesaurus will be changed with the next printing. |
