Massachusetts Lawmakers Approve Measure to Replace Gendered Terms, Including ‘Mother,’ on State Documents
Lawmakers in Massachusetts have approved a new measure to replace gendered terms like “mother” and “father” with non gendered terms such as “person who gave birth” on state documents, including birth certificates.
The bill, described as an act “to ensure legal parentage equality,” aims to “amend the parentage laws in Massachusetts to be inclusive and respectful of all family structures.” Under this legislation, traditional gendered terms will be replaced with neutral terms on state documents. For example, “mother” will be replaced with “person who gave birth,” and “father” will become “person who was the spouse of the person who gave birth.”
Additional changes include altering “paternity” to “parentage” and “himself” to “themself.” The term “child born out of wedlock” will be updated to “nonmarital child.”
The bill has been passed by both the Massachusetts House and Senate and now awaits the signature of Governor Maura Healey.
This legislation follows similar actions in other states aimed at removing gendered terms from state documents to accommodate individuals who identify as transgender or non-binary. However, some states have moved in the opposite direction, rejecting such radical changes.
Earlier this year, Arkansas rejected the option for non-binary individuals to list a third option, “X,” as their gender on their driver’s licenses, requiring the gender on the license to match the one on their birth certificate. Arkansas Governor Sarah Sanders defended the policy as “common sense.”
“Only women give birth, men shouldn’t play women’s sports, and there are only two genders. As long as I’m Governor, Arkansas state government will not endorse nonsense,” Sanders said at the time.
