Mass. House initially approves gender-neutral law

By GLEN JOHNSON Associated Press Writer BOSTON (AP) - The Massachusetts House of Representatives has given its initial approval to a bill that would require all future legislation be written in language that is gender neutral. The one-paragraph bill says legislation should contain non-gendered phrases such as "he/she" or "his/her," instead of following past practice and using the masculine pronoun by default. The legislation was inspired when Rep. Cory Atkins, a Democrat, read a bill related to nursing more than a year ago and noticed all the masculine pronouns. "If you're a guy, you think this is no big deal. And if you're a woman, you're insulted, considering we're 52 percent of the population," said Atkins. Atkins still remembers how incredulous it was to read masculine pronoun in a bill related to nursing. "I thought I... [read full story]