The Associated Press isn’t sure if angrily calling a gay man “Queen” while threatening to “f**k (him) up” is homophobic or not. That’s the only conclusion to reach based on their reporting of Alec Baldwin’s “apology” to gay groups this weekend: (emphasis added)
Alec Baldwin has apologized to a New York City-based lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights group for a series of tweets that could be interpreted as homophobic.
“Could be interpreted”???
The geniuses at the Associated Press didn’t go so far as to provide their readers with an alternate interpretation of “Queen” when referring to a gay man in a hostile and threatening manner. However, a good faith search of the AP style book failed to discover an acceptable usage for the term in this context.
We also had trouble finding an article where the Associated Press gave Paula Deen such enormous shelter by saying her admitted use of the “n-word” years ago could be interpreted as racist.