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November 15, 2006

Spanish gays blast "old-fashioned" dictionary

A Madrid-based gay rights group on Tuesday blasted the top authority on the Spanish language for failing to recognize same-sex marriage in its latest dictionary.

Marriage continues to be defined as a union between a man and a woman in the Real Academia Espanola's Essential Dictionary of the Spanish Language, published this week ahead of the appearance of the full version in 2013.

"Marriage now in Spain and other countries is no longer just a contract between a man and a woman.... It is a reality, and the academy should include it," Beatriz Gimeno, spokeswoman for the Federation of Gays and Lesbians, told Spanish radio station SER. "The academy tends to follow behind. It's an institution which moves slowly and very conservatively. It's lost an opportunity here."

The Real Academia Espanola (the Spanish Royal Academy), an association of leading academics, is widely considered the most influential arbiter of correct usage of Spanish in the world.

In a report to the Spanish government, it had previously suggested it would be favorable to rewriting its definition of marriage after Spain legalized same-sex marriage last July.

On Tuesday the academy declined to comment to Reuters on the issue, but director Victor Garcia de la Concha told SER the academy considered it too soon to say whether "gay marriage" would become an accepted term among Spanish speakers. (Reuters)

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