Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- A newly published edition of an authoritative Chinese dictionary has come under fire for leaving out the homosexual definition of a word commonly used to refer to gay men and lesbians . The word `` tongzhi '' traditionally means `` comrade '' and has been widely used by the Communist Party . But in recent decades the word has evolved to refer to homosexuals . The committee charged with revising and updating the dictionary said they chose to leave out the definition because they did n't want to encourage its use , the director of the committee Jiang Langsheng told Chengdu Business Daily . Coming out of the closet in China . The dictionary , which had its sixth edition published July 15 , is one of the most renowned sources of information in China . According to CNTV this latest edition contains 69,000 entries -- an increase of 4,000 from the fifth edition published in 2005 . `` It 's unacceptable that the 'gay ' meaning of 'tongzhi ' was excluded from the dictionary , a reference book written for all , simply because of the compilers ' own preferences and values , '' Nan Feng , a gay rights activist told the state-run news agency Xinhua . `` Tongzhi '' serves as a substitute for `` tongxinglian , '' which is the formal Chinese term for homosexuality . The 2005 edition of the Contemporary Chinese Dictionary defines `` tongxinglian '' both as same-sex love and as a psychosexual disorder , according to Xinhua . Homosexuality 's classification as a mental disorder was removed in China in 2001 , despite the dictionary 's definition . Video : Mom in China advocates for gay son . Like activists , linguists are also unhappy with the decision to leave out a term that is widely used in daily Chinese dialogue . `` There have always been good words and bad ones , '' Cui Yan , a planning editor for Science and Technology Document Press , told Beijing Business Daily . `` But they are all linguistic phenomena . Just because the dictionary does n't include them does n't mean they do n't exist . '' Across the web , people have spoken out about the lack of the colloquial definition of `` tongzhi . '' One user on China 's microblogging site Sina Weibo , who calls himself `` Yves Hugo '' said `` Tongzhi are there . They are a group of people . Whether you 'encourage or not . ' Tongzhi means gay people . The definition will be in dictionary at some point . '' CNN 's Corinna Liu in Hong Kong contributed to this report .
A popular Chinese dictionary has left out the ` ` gay '' definition of a word used to describe homosexuals . The word ` ` tongzhi '' traditionally means comrade but has evolved to refer to gay ##s and lesbians . Compilers of the dictionary said they did n't want to change that use of the word . Journalists and linguists are angered at the omission because it 's not right to leave out a widely - used word .