America Online employees were wrong to delete a user’s e-mail address because it contained the word ‘dyke,’ a spokesman said April 14.
Brenda Henson, who runs the Camp Sister Spirit lesbian retreat in Ovett, Miss., said AOL staff told her the ‘screen name’ ‘DeltaDyke’ was ‘inappropriate,’ ‘derogatory’ and ‘offensive.’
They gave her a special password to access the canceled account and retrieve stored e-mail on the condition that she permanently delete the screen name within 24 hours.
Henson had had the ID for approximately 10 years, she said.
Following a reporter’s inquiry, AOL spokesman Andrew Weinstein said April 14 that ‘the action taken was a mistake and we have contacted the account holder to apologize.’
‘There is no problem at all with our members self-describing using that term in their screen names,’ Weinstein said. ‘If, however, a member chooses to use that word in a way that is offensive to our gay and lesbian community, clearly that account would be actioned.’