The United States #Legislative branch, the House of Representatives, took steps in early 2021 to be more #inclusive to the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning (LGBTQ+) community. On January 4th, 2021, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi introduced a new code of conduct ahead of the 117th Congress that included reforms to promote diversity and inclusivity. It only applies to the Standing Rules of the House of Representatives and acts to remove gender-specific language and replace that language with gender-neutral terms.

For example, in Clause 8(c)(3) of Rule XXIII, which is the Code of Official Conduct for the House, the language changed is from “mother” and “father” to “parent,” “brother” and “sister” to “sibling,” and “son” and “daughter” to “child.” Other changes included a change from “Chairman” to “chair,” “seamen” to “seafarers,” and “himself or herself” to “themself.” The change came as a result of a #record number of representatives identifying as LGBTQ+ joining Congress in the November 2020 election.

Merriam-Webster Dictionary revised “they” to include the word as a pronoun for a “single person whose gender identity is nonbinary” in 2019. The changes taking place are part of an effort to welcome and include the diverse groups included in LGBTQ+ communities. 

Contrastingly, some fear that the inclusive changes to House rules diminishes the traditional view of gender and will affect legislation. Legislators that are opposed to the bill believe that the Americans they represent do not have an issue with “he” and “she” pronouns and that the language of the rules should not change. The bill was passed in 2021 by a vote of 217-206 as the opposing viewpoints were nearly evenly split regarding this issue.

The question posed is: Should Congress Use Gender Neutral Terms?