The following comes from a Jan. 21 story by Faithwire.
SACRAMENTO — The California legislature is recognizing a “non-binary designation as a gender” and banning the use of “he” and “she” in hearings, state Senate Judiciary Chair Hannah-Beth Jackson said last Thursday.
Jackson, of Santa Barbara, said, “We are using the phrase ‘they’ and replacing other designations so that it’s a gender neutral designation of they. Basically, that’s the primary reforms and revisions to the committee rules.”
However, during Senate hearing, Jackson failed to adhere to the newly imposed rules when she referred to her elementary school teacher as “her” instead of “them.”
“We are using what my grammar teacher would have had a heart attack over. We are using the phrase ‘they’. My grammar teacher’s long gone. And I won’t be hearing from her.”
Jackson was then interrupted by listeners who corrected her usage and demanded that she use the words they or them.
“Basically, that’s the primary reforms and revisions to the committee rules,” she added. “In the spirit of gender neutrality for the rules of this committee, we now designate the chair as ‘they.’”
On January 1, New York City joined California, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington in allowing people to designate a non-binary gender option on birth certificates.
With Californians having to commute 100 miles to work, tens of thousands homeless and used drug needles spread on the state’s sidewalks, it’s good to know that the senatress is focusing on what’s really important.
The left wing politicians have destroyed nearly everything here in California. Now they want to totally destroy our language. When a woman has to explain to someone that she is actually married to an actual man and not another woman, one knows most of the culture is depraved.
My English teacher right here in California would have flunked us if we had said “different than” instead of “different from”, and I hear college grads saying that now. I also hear “Me and so and so went to the park”, instead of “so and so and I went to the park from people with college degrees, even Masters. She would not let us call “children”, “kids”. “Kids are goats, I was told. Well she was right, “They” is incorrect unless someone is talking about more than one person. I usually correct myself.
In one way I agree with ‘Anonymous’ about ‘they’ and ‘them’ and priorities.
In the nearly fifty years since ‘he’ was no longer acceptable as the default pronoun when gender was uncertain or unspecified, why hasn’t American English developed a simple word which refers to either or both genders?
After all, unlike Latin, the language is dynamic and evolving.
Well aren’t you just so PC and understanding….but deny the Truth as all good liberals do
English does have such a simple word. Every normal person understands that the singular personal pronouns “he” or “him” can be used in an inclusive sense that refers to either sex when the person being referred to is unknown or indeterminate or hypothetical.
Example: if your child has a severe fever you should take him to a doctor because he can treat the illness.
Simple. Nobody believes the word “him” in that sentence excludes girls and nobody believes the word “he” excludes the possibility of a female doctor.
But the left wants us to talk like this: if your child has a severe fever you should take him or her to a doctor because he or she can treat the illness. That’s dumb.
Now California Democrats want us to talk like this: if your child has a severe fever you should take them to a doctor because they can treat the illness. That’s even dumber.
It doe so complicate English and makes writing so much longer when using the “inclusive”. I had a job before I retired where I had to us it most of the time, even though I much rather use the generic “he” and “him” and quite often do so.
Nevertheless, even men sometimes now get angry if inclusive language is not used in certain instances. Example: He drives like crazy. Sometimes the person will say, “How do you know it is a man?”
Corrections: first line — It does so complicate English; second line — where I had to use it.
By the way that Anonymous post on Jan, 27 at 8:38 pm was mine Anne TE. This laptop I am using is the “pits”. It jumps all over the place, and one merely has to put the cursor over something (not even click on it) and it goes there.
Legislating the immutable laws of science, as well as the natural law? How far will they go?
Some people on the Left have gone so far into denial that it’s becoming difficult to contemplate.
When I put myself in their shoes and try to think like they think, my brain hurts.
‘They’ is an idiot.
I don’t think this proposal goes far enough. You see, the word “they” contains the word “he” and that’s exclusive and sexist and male-centered. We don’t have firemen anymore because that word contained the exclusive, male-centered word “man”; now we have firefighters. So based on the left-wing’s own standards, the word “they” is misogynist and reinforces patriarchal social structures by having male-centered language forms as normative. So they need to find another word. Soon enough we won’t be able to say anything to anyone because merely opening your mouth or writing something down will offend somebody and you’ll be charged with a hate crime.
My English teachers, of long ago, now, would at times mention the fact that the English language was at a high point during Shakespeare’s era— and has been in a steady decline, since then! During the 20th century, the English language has suffered a profound further decline. Tragic! In other parts of the world, people are very proud of their language and culture, and cultivation of good speech and writing, means a great deal to them!
Nowadays insisting on correct grammar is considered by the left to be a form of white privilege and racism. Can’t have the white man insisting that his language be spoken and written correctly, can we? That’s a form of oppression.
Jus be speakin wat u want, get me?
This ruling seems to be imposing this draconian insanity in direct opposition to peoples’ 1st Amendment speech rights. It ought to be challenged straight away.