A new ordinance passed in Berkeley, California this past Tuesday that will remove gender-specific language from the city’s municipal code. According to the LA Times, manholes will now be called maintenance holes, craftsmen will become artisans and firefighters and police officers will no longer be identified by their respective genders. If you’re screaming at the screen right now “who f*cking cares about this sh*t!” then exactly! Who cares? You’re so right! Your life will not be ruined by suddenly hearing the word maintenance hole rather than manhole — that’s what it is, also artisan is 100 times cooler sounding than craftsmen and we don’t understand why you’d ever need to identify a police officer by their gender anyway.
Berkeley’s city council unanimously supported the ordinance, which will see over two dozen terms in the city’s municipal code changed to a gender-neutral form. In a letter to the city council regarding the matter in March of this year, council member Rigel Robinson wrote:
“In recent years broadening societal awareness of transgender and gender-nonconforming identities has brought to light the importance of non-binary gender inclusivity… it is both timely and necessary to make the environment of City Hall and the language of city legislation consistent with the principles of inclusion.”
If this is the type of stuff that boils your blood — ugh, please start paying attention to the wealth gap instead and let this other thing slide. It’s a small tweak and you’re borning for being irked. I don’t know why you spend time talking about manholes anyway. You sound like you’re on a dark path toward living in the sewers or freaking out before breakfast.
“Excuse me, sir, please stop shouting about manholes, you’re freaking out everyone in this Bagel Boss.”
