Notice something about this story? Neither the word “lesbian” nor the word “gay” appears anywhere in it. This is standard practice when referring to homosexuals who commit crimes, whereas if a homosexual is the victim of a crime (e.g., Matthew Shepard), “gay” is in the headline. In this case, where one homosexual (allegedly) shoots two other homosexuals, they went with the former rule, I guess.

As if the headline “Killer Cop in Lesbian Love Triangle” wouldn’t sell more newspapers? See, that’s my real beef with this kind of political correctness — insofar as journalism is a business, the profit motive would suggest the word “lesbian” in the headline of a story like this, much the same way that the word “rape” should always be in the headline of a story about rape. A legalistic term like “sexual assault” doesn’t sell papers the way “rape” sells papers. One reason the news business is in such dire condition is that political correctness is the enemy of the kind of lurid scandal-sheet mentality portrayed in L.A. Confidential.