Proposal Would Change Ordinances to Two Gender Pronouns

A City Council proposal would make changes to gender references in the city ordinances, mainly by referring to male and female pronouns, instead of just male.

The proposal, introduced by Ald. Kristian Rosado (R-2), changes numerous sections of the city ordinances, or local laws, saying that its purpose is, “To gender neutralize the applicable provisions of the Code of Ordinances.” Rosado is President Pro-Tempore of the City Council.

New Britain’s city ordinances, similar to many jurisdictions’ laws, have a number provisions, mainly older, that use male pronouns and other words to refer to all people, a usage that is now widely considered sexist and anachronistic. Many jurisdictions update their laws to be gender-neutral, as provisions are being revised for other reasons. Rosado’s proposal appears to be a systematic effort to change New Britain’s ordinances.

Some of the proposal would make changes, such as exchanging the terms “firemen” to “fire fighters” and “tradesmen” to “tradesperson”.

Most of the changes, however, involve personal pronouns, such as changing “he” to “he/she” and “him” to “him/her”.

But other jurisdictions are moving away from “he/she” references as a way to make their laws gender-neutral. A California legislative resolution says that,

The use of the pronouns “he” or “she” for individuals is not inclusive of all transgender people, nonbinary people who may not ascribe to a particular or fixed gender, or people who otherwise use different pronouns.

That resolution recommends, “the use of ‘they’ as a singular pronoun in certain cases,” saying that, “The use of ‘they’ as a singular pronoun is inclusive of transgender or nonbinary persons in addition to persons of the male and female genders.”

Another resolution in the District of Columbia City Council would make changes, including changing references to “he”, “she” and “he or she” to “they”.

The Connecticut Legislative Commissioner’s Office, the attorneys who write laws for the Connecticut state legislature, also says that newly drafted Connecticut laws should, “Avoid personal pronouns and never use ‘he/she’.”

The proposal is on the agenda of the February 13, 2020 City Council meeting. As a newly introduced proposal, it would generally be referred to a committee of the Council for a public hearing. If the committee approves the measure, it could be sent back to the full Council for final approval.