Student asks Apple to change ‘offensive definition of gay’

Despite repeated attempts, Apple Inc. has still refused to change one of its definitions of the word ‘gay’ which is listed as (informally) ‘stupid’ or ‘foolish’ as in: “That’s so gay.” The brouhaha started when 15-year-old Becca Gorman of Sudbury, Mass. discovered the definition in the latest Apple operating system, i0S7. “At first, I was kind of in disbelief. “ Gorman, whose parents are lesbians, noted that by using that definition – a definition that was not found in her search of other dictionaries – they were “legitimizing” the pejorative use of the word ‘gay.’

So she decided to do something about it and wrote the company. In a heartfelt appeal, she observed:

“The picture above is a screenshot of what came up on my search. “I assume that you are a pro-gay company, and would never intend for any one of your products to be as offensive as this definition was,” she wrote. “Even with your addition of the word informal, this definition normalizes the terrible derogatory twist that many people put on the word ‘gay.'”

Much to her and everyone else’s surprise, the company responded to her letter that day by calling her directly at home. “They told me it’s so hard to track the dictionaries they’re getting sources from, and that they were also shocked themselves.” They also promised to look into the problem.

Unfortunately, the definition has not changed, according to an update from MetroWestDailyNews.com. However, according to this report, they have added “often offensive.”

The question now is whether or not Apple will take the next indicated step and remove “often” and add “pejorative.” Becca Gorman and the LGBT community should demand nothing less.