OED changes definition of 'man', 'woman' to be more LGBT inclusive

M. Giovanardi launched a petition to change the "sexist" Oxford Dictionary. Photo: change.org

Oxford University Press, which publishes the Oxford English Dictionary, has changed the definitions of "woman" and "man" to make them more acceptable to LGBT people, reports Christian Headlines.

Although “woman” is still defined as an “adult female human being”, an additional definition now says a woman can be a “person's wife, girlfriend, or female lover” – rather than a “man’s wife, girlfriend, or female lover”.

Similarly, an additional definition of man has been tweaked to read, “a person's husband, boyfriend, or male lover” (rather than a “woman’s husband, boyfriend, or male lover”).

Maria Beatrice Giovanardi, who petitioned to include examples representative of minorities in the dictionary, said she was “very happy” with the changes and called them “a huge step forward for the LGBTQI people”.

The situation was commented on by the American theologian Albert Mohler, who noted that Oxford "surrendered to moral revolutionaries".

The Oxford dictionary, Mohler said, has become “an engine itself for changing the culture because anyone looking” to the dictionary “for a definition of woman is now going to find out that the LGBTQ definitions are just fine.”

As reported, a transgender person was elected for the first time in the last US Senate elections.

Read also