Week of June 29
Gender-neutral language and policies were a huge part of the news cycle this week. The speaker of the House of Assembly, Julian Willock, has suggested changing certain documents from gendered pronouns to “gender-neutral” ones. She stated, “I am going to call now on the Standing Orders Committee to fix the Standing Order so that it says ‘he or she’. So, I’m not relying on any interpretation.” Residents of Pelham, New York have voted to change their gendered title “Board of Selectmen” to gender-neutral “Select Board”. In honor of Pride month, the Seattle School Board have created policy changes in which all schools must have at least one multi-stall gender-neutral restroom and over 100 schools must, “identify space available for gender-neutral restroom conversion”. Meanwhile, The Department of Insurance in California has updated their online car premium comparison rates to be gender-neutral.
Several articles discussed gender-neutral forms of identification. Residents of Rhode Island will now be able to choose a gender-neutral “X” option on their driver’s license. Rhode Island’s Governor stated, “Representation matters at every level, and I am proud to make our government better reflect the diverse identities of Rhode Islanders. This change will allow Rhode Islanders who do not have a binary gender to finally see themselves correctly identified on their driver’s license.” Residents of Hawaii will also be able to choose a third gender-neutral “X” option on their state IDs, driver’s licenses and commercial driver’s licenses.
Gender neutrality in the workforce was also featured this week. One article about how gender-diversity helps a firm’s success suggested offering a gender-neutral parental leave for employees. Another article mentioned gender-neutral forms of email etiquette, such as saying “Thanks everyone” instead of “Thanks guys” or even taking gender out completely and saying “Thanks”. Meanwhile in India, the Central Reserve Police Force, Border Security Force, Central Industrial Security Force, Indo-Tibetan Border Police, and Sashastra Seema Bal are accepting transgender recruits, claiming their forces are gender-neutral.
Gender-neutral parenting was also in the news this week. Many articles discussed UK singer Paloma Faith and her recent reveal that she is raising a daughter. In 2016 when her daughter was born, Faith said that the child would be raised to be gender-neutral. However, in a recent podcast Faith referred to her child as her daughter and used she/her pronouns. In another article, one parent discussed that although toy companies push gender-roles through toys, toys are gender-neutral in that any gender can play with any toy.
Other articles discussed creating gender-neutral spaces. An EXP architect recently created a “Gender Neutral Design: Restrooms and Beyond” program for the American Institute of Architects Chicago and NeoConnect. Protestors in London’s Parliament Square advocated for transgender rights and the promotion and recognition of gender-neutral spaces, such as gender-neutral restrooms. In the meantime, restrooms in the Canterbury Cathedral have been made gender-neutral in order to promote social distancing, since most urinals are too close in proximity.