“Lesbian” Gets AMERICAblog Banned

A New Jersey Marriott apparently doesn’t like lesbians. Or, rather, “lesbian”. John Aravosis reports that the hotel’s banned his previous blog, AMERICAblog, for using the L-word:

I’ve gotten reports over the years that our blog has been blocked in numerous locations around the country (O’Hare) and world (China) because we are, supposedly, a porn site. This has happened in numerous airports, to me and my readers, and the most recent report is from a Marriott hotel in Park Ridge, New Jersey. In that instance, the hotel computer in the business center reportedly blocked access to AMERICAblog, explaining that the site contained the word “lesbian.”

Sure, such search engine filters may seem like simple glitches at best and overt homophobia at worst, but Aravosis rightly points out the larger free speech implications. One can never know who or what’s being blocked, which “begs for federal regulation to guarantee free speech.”