Bill to strip gendered language is now on Newsom’s desk

A bill removing gendered language from the California code now sits on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk after passing through the Legislature with overwhelming bipartisan support.

Assembly Bill 378, authored by Assemblywoman Rebecca Bauer-Kahan, D-Orinda, “systematically goes through laws related to the offices of governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, state controller, treasurer, insurance commissioner and Board of Equalization to make all references to the gender of the officer gender-neutral, ” according to a statement from Bauer-Kahan’s office.

In many instances, the code still refers to the person holding those positions as “he,” despite the fact that the lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state controller and treasurer positions all are held by women.

“I applaud the Legislature for voting overwhelmingly to approve AB 378 today,” Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, a sponsor of the bill, said in a statement. “As the first woman elected lieutenant governor while our laws still refer to the lieutenant governor as ‘he’ and ‘him,’ I am living proof that these changes are long overdue. Making our code gender-neutral will pave

the way for all Californians to know that they can lead here, regardless of their gender identity.”

That’s not the only bill of Bauer-Kahan’s to make it to Newsom’s desk.

The Legislature also has passed a bill — AB 439, sponsored by the LGBTQ advocacy group Equality California — that adds the nonbinary gender identity to the list of options for a death certificate. That legislation follows previous legislation which added the nonbinary gender identity to driver’s licenses, birth certificates and other official state documents.

“When nonbinary people pass away, it is important to have their full identity reflected on their death certificate,” Bauer-Kahan said in a statement. “Incorrectly assigning a nonbinary person a gender is wrong and disrespectful to their memory.”