How a Times Reporter Eluded a Ban on the Word ‘Gay’; The New York Times, June 7, 2025

David W. Dunlap , The New York Times; How a Times Reporter Eluded a Ban on the Word ‘Gay’

"Among the articles in The Advocate was “The ‘G’ Word,” about The Times’s refusal to adopt the word “gay.”

At the time, there was an explicit prohibition in The New York Times Manual of Style and Usage: “gay. Do not use as a synonym for homosexual unless it appears in the formal, capitalized name of an organization or in quoted matter.”

Gay men found this rule to be demeaning. I know, because I was one of them. As a closeted young reporter on The Times’s Metro desk, however, I didn’t stand a chance of persuading the publisher, Arthur Ochs Sulzberger (1926-2012), or the executive editor, A.M. Rosenthal (1922-2006), to overturn a ban they had put in place in 1976.

So I waged guerrilla warfare instead. Whenever I wrote articles of particular concern to gay readers, I peppered the text with “gay” as much as I could — in accordance with the stylebook rule. I also tried to limit use of the clinical, antiquated “homosexual.”...

The editor to whom the book belonged, Thomas Feyer, drew an “X” through the entry in June 1987, when the rule was superseded by a memo from Allan M. Siegal (1940-2022), an assistant managing editor.

“Starting immediately,” Mr. Siegal wrote, “we will accept the word gay as an adjective meaning homosexual, in references to social or cultural patterns and political issues.” That made my life easier, in many ways.

Today, the stylebook says: “gay (adj.) is preferred to homosexual in most contexts.”"

These American birds and dozens more will be renamed, to remove human monikers; NPR, November 1, 2023

Nell Greenfieldboyce , NPR; These American birds and dozens more will be renamed, to remove human monikers

"The move comes as part of a broader effort to diversify birding and make it more welcoming to people of all races and backgrounds.

"We've come to understand that there are certain names that have offensive or derogatory connotations that cause pain to people, and that it is important to change those, to remove those as barriers to their participation in the world of birds," she says.

The project will begin next year and initially focus on 70 to 80 bird species that occur primarily in the United States and Canada. That's about 6 or 7 percent of the total species in this geographic region.

The society has promised to engage the public, and says that birds' scientific names won't be changed as part of this initiative.

The effort represents a huge change for the birding community, and those involved expect a certain amount of opposition from long-time birders.

"I've been seeing some of these birds and using these names every year for the last 60 years," says Kenn Kaufman, a prominent author of field guides. He says he initially opposed the idea of changing so many names, but has come around."