Subscribe to Breaking NewsLowenstein: Why words matter
In Sunday’s New York Times, an article about Visa restrictions noted that,
“Religion and sexual preferences, as well, are sometimes cited as reasons for tourists to be denied entry to one country or another.”
Substituting “preference” for “orientation” is both insulting and sloppy, but it would be easy for someone who reads the article to argue that words are just words. The larger narrative of the piece was that the visa process is often overly restrictive, which suggests that writer Mitchell Higgins was not intending to make a political statement with her syntax. Maybe Higgins should just spend some quality time with the GLAAD Media Reference Guide.
But the larger implications of misusing words like “preference” was underscored over the weekend when a spokeswoman for the US Census disclosed that the 2010 census will not distinguish between gay individuals and couples and their straight counterparts. When asked whether the census would question Americans about their orientation, spokeswoman Cynthia Endo said that the census “is all about numbers. This is not about lifestyle or anything else.”
Lifestyle. Preference. Both words imply that being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender is a choice, and that implication opens the dangerous idea that orientation or gender identity can be changed or “cured.” Words have meanings, and in Endo’s case, her words are representative of harmful policies that have real impact. Not being correctly identified– and particularly not being counted– means the LGBT community can be disregarded as a tiny minority. If we’re going to fight for and win the equal treatment under the law we so rightly deserve, we’re going to have to be counted first.
Wow… I haven’t seen a major news outlet (except the WSJ and WashTimes) use “preference” in years. Throwback, and *not* in a good way.
Ah, that first comment was from my roommate Caitie working on my computer, NOT ME! Sorry guys…
Don’t lie. That was you resposnding to yourself.
James
Perhaps I’m just stubborn and old fashioned, but the correct word makes a world of difference.
I strongly dislike the term “preference” except when referring to one’s religious choice or computer design.
“Lifestyle” to me suggests economic status and that has no bearing on one’s orientation.
“Orientation” is the only term that I’ve heard that I accept for myself.
These days, journalists and those who claim to be journalists are often mis-nomers also.
Each writer should make certain they have a full vocabulary and know how to use the correct term to fit the occasion.
This decision must have been made by Bush people. Obama’s team now has only a very short time to get this corrected. Gay families need to be counted on the basis of whether they defined themselves as a family. Certainly gay marriages and two-parent adoptions need to be counted that way. As for preference, I agree, the census is the wrong place for categories like “reverse cowboy” and “doggie”. But orientation must be explicitly included.
If the census is not created correctly, do what happened in Canada. Write in the information you want them to track. They may not report it, but they’ll have to track it, and future generations will see it.
Straights have sexual orientation, gays have civil preference.