Washington State Gov. Jay Inslee signs bill to replace ‘penmanship’ with ‘handwriting’
In the northwestern state of Washington, a Senate bill (SB 5077) that directs the state to replace “outdated” terms in state statutes with gender-neutral language was signed by Democratic Governor Jay Inslee this week.
Public domain image/USGS
The bill, sponsored by Democratic state Senator Jeanne Kohl-Welles of Seattle calls for the rewrite of legislation prior to 1983, when it became law to use gender- neutral language in all laws.
The new gender-neutral references, for example, include “journey-level plumber” instead of “journeyman plumber,” “handwriting” in place of “penmanship,” and “signal operator” for “signalman.”
There’s no good reason for keeping our legal terms anachronistic and with words that do not respect our current contemporary times,” Kohl-Welles, the 475-page bill’s sponsor, told Reuters.
“Words matter,” said Liz Watson, a National Women’s Law Center senior adviser. “This is important in changing hearts and minds.”
Kyle Thiessen, the state’s code reviser said certain words will not be changed due to military objections or a lack of common sense substitutes. So, words like airman and seaman will not be changed, neither will man-hole.
California, Hawaii, Maryland, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Utah all have gender-neutral requirements for state documents, the Toronto Sun reported.
