Although homosexuality has been increasingly discussed by mass media in China, the voice of the official side is rarely heard, she added.
"The compiler's words represent explicit discrimination against homosexuals," said Zhang Beichuan, a leading Chinese scholar in homosexual studies.
"In my opinion, all forms of love should be promoted and only hatred should be condemned. Jiang's argument is fairly naive, meaning the country urgently needs a push towards improving its sexual orientation education," he said.
Zhang's view was echoed by Yu Haitao, an associate professor of linguistics at Beijing Language and Culture University. Yu said personal values should be put aside when compiling dictionaries.
Compilers can't totally avoid subjectivity when deciding whether an entry or new definition deserves to be listed in accordance with linguistic standards, Yu said.
"But for a linguist, it's wrong to cite personal feelings as the reason for their choices," Yu said.
According to Zhang, gay people living on the Chinese mainland have referred to themselves as "tongzhi" since the mid-1970s. The term gained immense popularity in the 1990s after an influential Hong Kong film director vigorously promoted its use in 1989.
"Tongzhi" serves as a substitute for "tongxinglian," the formal Chinese term for homosexual. The substitution removes the sexual connotation included in "tongxinglian," which literally translates as "same-sex love," and therefore helps homosexuals avoid some social stigma, as sexual topics remain taboo in mainstream society.
