Gender-inappropriate' terms like 'guys,' 'honey' and 'love' banned for Aussie airline staffers

Australian airline Qantas has informed its staffers that “gender-inappropriate” terms such as "guys," "honey" and "love" are now verboten since they may offend the LGBT community, the New Daily reported.

The airline gave staffers an information pack produced by the Diversity Council of Australia on the particulars, Qantas told the outlet.

“Language can make groups of people invisible," the information pack states, according to the New Daily. "For example, the use of the term ‘chairman’ can reinforce the idea that leaders are always men."

What else is on the outs?

"Husband and wife" along with "mum and dad" are no longer allowed. The replacement terms? "Partner," "spouse" and "parents" are now the preferred terms, as they won't exclude LGBT families, the outlet said.

The info pack also highlighted “manterruptions” — the act of men interrupting women during conversations — as a prohibited practice, the New Daily said.

Specific to the history of Australia is the directive to use terms such as "colonization, occupation or invasion" instead of "settlement" in reference to Europeans coming to the country in the 18th century, the outlet added.

“Describing the arrival of Europeans as a ‘settlement’ is a view of Australian history from the perspective of England rather than Australia,” the info pack notes, the New Daily said.

What does a Qantas official have to say about the speech directives?

“We have a long and proud history of promoting inclusion­ among our people, our customers and society­, including support of indigenous issues, gender parity in business and marriage equality,” Qantas’ people and culture group executive Lesley Grant told the outlet, adding that the aim of using the information booklet is to make certain that “everyone feels comfortable to bring their whole selves to work”.

What does a former Australian leader have to say about the issue?

Former prime minister Tony Abbott called Qantas’ new speech rules “rubbish,” "nonsense," and “political correctness gone way over the top," the New Daily reported.

“Frankly, if companies like Qantas want to give their customers a better a deal, they can scrap all these inclusion units, just scrap them and save the money, because it’s just rubbish this idea that we need a corporate thought police,” Abbott told 4BC radio, the outlet said.

The former PM also called Qantas staffers "very good people, they are decent, sensitive people, and they don’t need this kind of nonsense. It is an insult to them. This is, I’m afraid ... the very weird and strange times in which we live.”

What else has Qantas done in the political correctness realm?

Alan Joyce, the airline's CEO, joined other corporate executives in penning a letter last year to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull urging him to legislate for same-sex marriage.

Joyce was caught on camera being hit directly in the face with a pie by an anti-LGBTQ activist over his views.

The issue boiled over further when Australian tennis legend Margaret Court expressed her views against same-sex marriage, drawing fury from those in her sport and in her country.