new york times & ms./gay

[Bethany K. Dumas]

On Sat, 22 May 1999, Lynne Murphy wrote:
>Can anyone tell me when the New York Times started using 'Ms.' (in
>addition to 'Mrs.' and 'Miss')  or referring to people/organizations as
>'gay' (rather than 'homosexual')?  I know that Ms. was quite
>late--mid-late 80s, I think.  Or, if you have an easy way to figure this
>out, without going through years' worth of old newspapers, please
>suggest it to me.

I don't remember whether the NYT waited until the "mid-late 80s" to start
using 'Ms." -- the title itself is much older. In fact, it  was in general
use by some writers and pubs by 1970 -- not the general press, of course.

Bethany, drawing on personal memory