March 02, 2019 - 9:53 AM
FAIRBANKS, Alaska - The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly has agreed to remove gender-specific pronouns from its ordinance code.
Borough officials said new local laws are written using gender-neutral pronouns but the ordinance voted on earlier this week, from Assemblywoman Leah Berman Williams, makes the practice retroactive.
The vote was unanimous, the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported.
Under the change, "he" or "she" will be replaced with "they," while "him" or "her" will become "their." Money won't be needed to implement the change, according to the borough clerk.
One person who spoke against the change was former assembly member Lance Roberts, who contended that the language will make local laws harder to read.
"Nobody is offended by these words except people who are really easily offended," he said.
Williams said the change only relates to borough code.
"It does not say anything about what you have to use in your own language," Williams said.
Jimmy Fox, said the ordinance is about progress and about not making assumptions about gender.
"I think it's being fair," he said.
Assemblywoman Marna Sanford called the approved ordinance a feel-good measure.
News from © The Associated Press, 2019