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Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson. (Photo: Kevin Sanders for California Globe)

Dem. Senator Bans ‘He/She’ Pronouns During Legislative Hearings

Grammar police preparing to issue citations

By Katy Grimes, January 20, 2019 10:07 am

California State Senate Judiciary Committee chairwoman Hannah-Beth Jackson (D-Santa Barbara) announced Thursday that only “gender neutral” pronouns will be permitted during committee hearings. No more will Sen. Jackson allow “he” or “she” to be used when referring to a male or female; “they” will be the only allowed pronoun.

Acknowledging this incorrect grammar, Jackson said since California passed a law recognizing the non-binary designation as a gender, “he and she, we are now merging them so we are using what my grammar teacher would have had a heart attack over: we are using the phrase ‘they’ and replacing other designations so it’s a gender neutral designation.”

“In the spirit of gender neutrality for the rules of this committee, we now designate the chair as ‘they,’” Jackson said, referring to herself as “they.” Or should we say “oneself,” referring to a gender neutral subject with a reflexive pronoun? And isn’t Sen. Jackson a “chairwoman” and not a “chair?”

As silly as this sounds, Sen. Jackson has the authority to make this change. Pursuant to the California Constitution, the Legislature has authority to do what they want for their committee rules.

 

 

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11 thoughts on “Dem. Senator Bans ‘He/She’ Pronouns During Legislative Hearings

  1. Butcher the English language much, Senatrix/Senateuse/Senatrina? Me, I’ll just call you senile.
    How about Prop 63, passed several decades ago, making English CA’s official language, Senila? Your Diktat is at odds with Art. III, Sec. 6 of CA’s Constitution. And, since there’s a private enforcement clause, you’d better be careful just how you plan to enforce your little rule, if at all.

  2. More idiots in charge. It doesn’t matter how many new laws people make it will NEVER change the fundamental FACTS that there are either men or women and nothing else. Identifying as something else doesn’t make it a FACT.

  3. Are you kidding me?? She bans pronouns, then repeatedly breaks her own rule the entire rest of the hearing. This is INSANE! I can’t believe this is real life. I have to be dreaming.

    1. Our fine legislature wasted time last year (in August, I think?) passing the resolution below, which if followed would waste even more time, energy, and money. For that reason alone it should have been screamed down. But no, everyone thought it was great and just went along. It’s like mass hypnosis.

      “ACR 260, as introduced, [Evan] Low. Statutes: gender-neutral language: pronouns.
      “This bill would encourage the Legislature to engage in a coordinated effort to revise existing statutes and introduce new legislation with inclusive language by using gender-neutral pronouns or reusing nouns to avoid the use of gendered pronouns.”
      https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180ACR260

      Imagine revising all the existing statutes (!!!) with gender-neutral pronouns, never mind closely watching all of one’s P’s and Q’s writing future legislation. And from I’ve seen no Dem legislator has the discipline to pull it off anyway!

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