word choice

Walmart Will Let Customer Reviewers Start Saying Books Are ‘Gay’

“Recently it was brought to our attention that Mark King was unable to complete a review of the book It Gets Better on Walmart.com. We regret that a filter did not allow his review of the book to post and we quickly worked to resolve this technical issue. We reached out to Mark directly to discuss the issue and, as an extra measure, we have reviewed the system to ensure that it will allow the use of all appropriate words related to sexual orientation and gender identity.” That’s an official statement from the company after AIDS activist Mark King found himself unable to use the word describing exactly whom Dan Savage and Terry Miller’s It Gets Better: Coming Out, Overcoming Bullying, and Creating a Life Worth Living book is aimed at. [photo via]

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By: JD
On: Mar 23, 2011
Tagged: Dan Savage, it gets better, Language, mark king, Walmart

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8 Comments

No. 1 · Lonnie
It certainly does get better, kids. If you somehow manage to survive your youth with health and sanity intact, you will get to enjoy the blessings of a low wage, non-union, no health benefits Walmart job.

I’m sorry, but you just CAN’T call yourself any kind of activist if you’re clueless about how Walmart’s policies and practices are for LGBT people.

This is not activism. It’s self-promotion. Shame on promoting self-promoters.

It’s no wonder gay bookstores are all but dead.

Mar 23, 2011 at 2:07 pm · @Reply · Flag
No. 2 · Riker
@Lonnie: Erm, what does this have to do with how Walmart treats its employees? This is about filling out an online book review.

Mar 23, 2011 at 5:54 pm · @Reply · Flag
No. 3 · djdavi · Member · 7 comments
I know its supposed to be a positive thing. Like now we can say “This book is a great resource for gay parents.”

But now we will have:
“This book is totally gay. It should be burned”

way to go walmart… progress with a side of backstepping

Mar 24, 2011 at 5:54 am · @Reply · Flag
No. 4 · jason
There is no such thing as a gay book. If there were, there’d be a dating service for it.

A non-living thing cannot be gay or have a gay relationship. People may be described as gay, but not books etc.

Mar 24, 2011 at 8:29 am · @Reply · Flag
No. 5 · inane
This reminds me of when someone was having problems with their Xbox because they lived in a place called Fort Gay and Microsoft would not have that…

Mar 24, 2011 at 10:28 am · @Reply · Flag
No. 6 · djdavi · Member · 7 comments
@Jason: you apparently haven’t been around young people in many years. Gay means stupid to them. Or in the case my example, I was using it to mean “faggy” the exact word my father used to desribe “The Birdcage”

Mar 26, 2011 at 1:46 am · @Reply · Flag
No. 7 · djdavi · Member · 7 comments
@Jason: you apparently haven’t been around young people in many years. Gay means stupid to them. Or in the case my example, I was using it to mean “faggy” the exact word my father used to describe “The Birdcage”

Mar 26, 2011 at 1:47 am · @Reply · Flag
No. 8 · ??BLACKANDWHITEPEOPLE??
this is the first result for “books are gay” lol

Feb 3, 2012 at 1:32 pm · @Reply · Flag