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No More ‘Firemen’ Or ‘Manholes.’ DC Bill Seeks To Eliminate ‘Gendered Language’ In City Code

   DailyWire.com
WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 25: Dawn breaks behind the Washington Monument as viewed from the Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC, on the day that the government shutdown was declared over by President Trump. 25 January 2019. PHOTOGRAPH BY Adam Gray / Barcroft Images (Photo credit should read Adam Gray / Barcroft Media via Getty Images)
Photo credit: Adam Gray / Barcroft Media via Getty Images

Washington, D.C., having solved all of its other problems, may delete and replace “gendered” language from the D.C. city code and the city’s home rule charter in its next legislative session, putting an end to “male” terms like “manhole,” “chairman,” and “fireman.”

DCist reports that the bill, which will go under consideration by the D.C. city council soon, “would ensure that the language of the city’s laws ‘is modernized and reflective of our values,'” per the bill’s author, Councilmember David Grosso.

“Currently, our older laws show outdated thinking about gender, with a default to masculine pronouns or to masculinized forms of nouns,” Grosso  said in a floor speech Tuesday evening, according to DCist. “Other laws fail to embody the gender diversity of our community, instead using binary language. Our values in the District of Columbia have evolved and the language of our laws should too.”

If the 43-page bill passes, Washington, D.C., residents will no longer be subject to the emotional distress that accompanies seeing such “gendered” terms in everyday life — as least as far as the Washington, D.C. code and charter are concerned.

The bill takes a sweeping approach to neutralizing traditionally male words, renaming the city council’s “chairman” a “chairperson,” and re-labeling terms associated with specific professions that may operate in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. “‘Bondsman,’ DCist says, “would become ‘bondsperson,’ ‘fireman’ would become ‘firefighter,’ and ‘policeman’ would become ‘police officer.’ The word ‘ombudsman’ would become ‘ombudsperson.’”

But, as with the Berkeley, California effort to de-gender city services, which the Daily Wire reported on back in July, the plan to eliminate “gendered” terms doesn’t stop with just titles given to humans. “Manhole” is also under target for change, becoming “maintenance cover” or “maintenance hole,” lest anyone who is not male be triggered by the mere presence of a utility access grate. “Manmade” would become “humanmande,” and “manpower” would become “workforce.”

Pronouns in the city code and charter would be replaced with the gender-neutral “they” and “them,” both now being accepted ways to refer to an individual, even though both words are technically collective pronouns.

D.C. would be the second major city to make its code and charter gender-neutral, following only Berkeley, California, as mentioned above. Councilman Grosso used the same rationale that Berkeley’s council did in presenting the bill: that since the so-called gender binary is no longer inclusive, and becuase language can be a form of oppression, every last detail of modern life must be made gender-neutral.

“In recent years, broadening societal awareness of transgender and gender-nonconforming identities has brought to light the importance of non-binary gender inclusivity,” the Berkeley council said back in July. “Therefore, it is both timely and necessary to make the environment of City Hall and the language of city legislation consistent with the principles of inclusion.”

“Older laws show outdated thinking about gender with a default to masculine pronouns or to masculinized forms of nouns. Other laws fail to embody the gender diversity of our community, instead using binary language,” Grosso added in a press release issued Tuesday night after his speech. “Language matters, language holds power, and the language of our laws is especially important.”

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