Did the Associated Press BAN the use of 'husband' and 'wife' to describe people in civil unions and same-sex marriages? The Associated Press is under fire by gay rights groups after the wire agency released a memo directing its reporters to refer to legally wed homosexual couples as 'partners' rather than 'husbands' or 'wives.' 'We were asked how to report about same-sex couples who call themselves "husband" and "wife,"' the memo states. Our view is that such terms may be used in AP stories with attribution. Generally AP uses couples or partners to describe people in civil unions or same-sex marriages. Media critic Jim Romenesko posted the memo on his blog and it was quickly circulated among gay rights groups. Romenesko later removed the post. AMERICAblog called the directive a 'ban' on using the words 'husband' and 'wife' to describe the members of a homosexual couple. 'So clearly AP is admitting that it has a different standard for legally-wed gay couples than it has for legally-wed straight couples,' John Aravosis wrote on AMERICAblog. 'It's almost as if AP is squeamish, or somehow, uncomfortable with the notion that a man might marry another man, even though it's now legal in many states and countries.' Gawker claimed the directive was a form of 'separate but equal.' 'This particular style choice makes a jarring "separate but equal" standard for married couples,' Gawker's Robert Kessler wrote. As we learned with segregation, a separate standard is inherently unequal. As the controversey grew surrounding the directive, the AP released a second memo to clarify the first. 'Our view is that such terms may be used in AP content if those involved have regularly used those terms ("Smith is survived by his husband, John Jones") or in quotes attributed to them,' reads a sentence added to the memo. So if the legally-wed subjects of a story refer to themselves as husbands or wives, than the reporter should follow suit. But generally speaking, the AP recommends using the terms 'couples' or 'partners' to describe people in civil unions or same-sex marriages. As the leading global authority on journalistic standards, the AP regularly publishes memos regarding its style, punctuation and grammar rules.