This week’s Washington Times coverage of the new D.C. marriage law was an example of just how far we’ve come. The Times is the city’s conservative newspaper.
Not only was the coverage fair and honest, told nicely from the point of view of a lesbian couple who married yesterday, but didn’t show the bias that the paper did several years ago.
Until recently, the paper regularly used the word homosexual rather than gay. Gay has been the standard word according to the AP Style book for more than a decade, probably closer to two decades. Also, until recently, the Times regularly put the word “marriage” in quotes when referring to marriage for same-sex couples.
Here’s an example from 2004. Marriage is in quotes only when referring to same-sex couples as in the bottom paragraph. I’m not sure when the change was made, and I doubt the paper is a supporter of the city’s new law, but thank you for finally treating people you previously disdained with respect.
