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Norwalk Council Votes On Expanded Gender Language For Municipal Documents

Image by SatyaPrem from Pixabay

The City Council of Norwalk, Connecticut, is set to vote on an expanded definition of gender that includes identity and expression on Tuesday. The change comes after Norwalk decided to adopt the gender-neutral title of “council member.”

Norwalk city ordinances use male-oriented words like “men” or “him.” Council Member Dominique Johnson led a committee effort to change that.

“It was a big first step. It’s an overdue step, so I think it’s a great step to take to bring us into the 21st century to identify ourselves and to acknowledge women and trans and nonbinary folks are valued members of the community such that they are reflected in the code,” Johnson said.

She said the full council will vote whether to expand the definition of “man or him” to include female and generic pronouns like “her” and “them,” because it does not have the resources to go through all old ordinances or reprint forms with the inclusive gender language.

“While the forms and documentation at city hall have not yet changed, and that was outside the scope of the mandate here, I think that inevitably it brings up the conversation that when those forms have to be reprinted, we make sure its not gender-exclusive terminology on the form,” Johnson said.

Cassandra Basler, a former senior editor at WSHU, came to the station by way of Columbia Journalism School in New York City. When she's not reporting on wealth and poverty, she's writing about food and family.