Journalists working for the Associated Press (AP) have been urged not to refer to transsexual people as having been “born” a specific sex.
The AP has updated its official style guide to include pro-transsexual terms, confirming the move on its Twitter page.
Jeff McMillan, of the AP Stylebook team, said “sex reassignment or gender confirmation” should be used for medical procedures.
‘Gender identity’
“Call people transgender only if relevant; give the name they use publicly; avoid references to being born a boy or girl.”
“Transition is the process by which people match their physical characteristics to their gender identity”, he added.
The AP has headquarters in New York City, as well as teams in more than 100 countries around the world.
‘Identify’ as women
Earlier this month, a prestigious women-only college at the University of Cambridge announced that men will now be allowed to apply if they ‘identify’ as women.
Murray Edwards College, whose alumni include Sue Perkins, Claudia Winkelman and Tilda Swinton, will now consider any student who “at the point of application identifies as a woman”.
In the past, the college required all applicants to be “legally defined as female”. The change was made after a motion on transsexualism was passed by the college council – a group of academics and teaching fellows.