STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — The legislative body in Stamford, Connecticut, has removed gender pronouns from its written rules.
The Board of Representatives voted last week to remove “he/she” and “his/her” from its rules of order, replacing them with specific titles, including president and clerk, the Advocate newspaper reported.
The measure passed unanimously with one abstention.
The change was proposed by three Democrats elected to the 40-member board in November, including Raven Matherne, the state’s first openly transgender elected official. It does not change the way the rules are followed or carried out, she said.
“It’s an act to acknowledge the members of this board, just as in each of our districts and the city at large, cannot always be described as he or she,” Matherne said.
Stamford is the state’s third most populous city, with about 130,000 residents, according to the city’s website.
The move gives Stamford the opportunity to set the bar in updating its language to be LGBTQ inclusive, board members said.
“It’s a modernization,” said Democratic board member Benjamin Lee. “Gendered nouns are no longer used as often in legal documents or legislative documents.”
The Triangle Community Center in nearby Norwalk, a resource for the region’s LGBT population, welcomes the change.
“This measure will make Stamford’s governing body more welcoming, inclusive and accessible to people of every gender identity, as it should be,” Executive Director Anthony Crisci said.