The city council of Berkeley, Calif., voted Tuesday night to remove all words that imply a gender preference from its city code and replace them with gender-neutral terms.
The ordinance would tackle words like manhole, policemen or policewomen, chairman and man-power. Manhole will be switched to maintenance hole, and manpower will be switched to human effort.
The ordinance will also replace the gender pronouns he and she with they.
{mosads} The legislation passed the City Council without debate or controversy, according to Berkeley City Council Member Rigel Robinson, the bill’s author.
“There’s power in language,” Robinson told CNN. “This is a small move, but it matters.”
“Having a male-centric municipal code is inaccurate and not reflective of our reality,” Robinson continued. “Women and non-binary individuals are just as entitled to accurate representation. Our laws are for everyone, and our municipal code should reflect that.”
There will be a second reading of the ordinance next week, according to an area NBC affiliate. If passed, it will go into effect in late August.