Pedestrian

Will Phillips, a 10-year-old boy in Arkansas, has been refusing to stand for or say the pledge of allegiance because, he says. “I really don’t feel that there’s currently liberty and justice for all.” (he’s referencing no liberty/justice for gays/lesbians who cannot be legally married according to the federal government)

I first read this story, thanks to this a post on Twitter from a friend who protects her tweets.  I thought it was a great story and was impressed with the kid and glanced at the headline, and I wondered why The Examiner used the term “homosexual” when plenty of current newspapers specifically don’t.

Really, now, the term “homosexual” only belongs on a card like this:

The Examiner’s headline reads, “10-year-old refuses to pledge allegiance to country that discriminates against homosexuals” with story by Jennifer Chou.

The source article that is referenced resides at The Huffington Post where the headline reads, “Will Phillips, 10-Year-Old, Won’t Pledge Allegiance To A Country That Discriminates Against Gays.”

GLAAD (Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) writes about how the Associated Press, New York Times, and Washington Post have all restricted usage of the term homosexual in recent years because:

the term “homosexual” — a word whose clinical history and pejorative connotations are routinely exploited by anti-gay extremists to suggest that lesbians and gay men are somehow diseased or psychologically/emotionally disordered, and which, as The Washington Post notes, “can be seen as a slur.” AP and New York Times editors also have instituted rules against the use of inaccurate terminology such as “sexual preference” and “gay lifestyle.”

’nuff said.