Berkeley plans to remove gendered pronouns from its municipal code

“In Berkeley, Calif., “man-made” will soon be “human made,” “chairman” will become “chairperson,” and “manhole” will change to “maintenance hole” — at least, in the city’s municipal code.

In an effort to make Berkeley more inclusive for its non-binary residents, the city council voted Tuesday night to make the language more gender neutral, following a city clerk review that found that the municipal code primarily contained masculine pronouns. That means many professions such as firemen and firewomen will simply be “firefighters,” and “brothers” and “sisters” will instead be “siblings.”

“Having a male-centric municipal code is inaccurate and not reflective of our reality,” council member Rigel Robinson, the primary backer of the terminology change, told The Washington Post via email.”