Students at the University of Virginia (UVA) voted 89 percent in favor of banning gender pronouns from the school’s constitution, replacing them with gender-neutral pronouns, such as “they,” according to Breitbart.
“The University of Virginia’s recent Student Council elections included a question about removing gendered pronouns from its constitution.”
UVA Student Council Director of University Relations Noah Strike told Campus Reform that the first referendum question on the students’ ballot, titled, “Modernization and Inclusion of Student Council Constitution,” included that the updates strike “any use of ‘he or she,’ him or her,’ or ‘his or hers’ to the gender-neutral singular ‘they’ pronoun” in the student government’s constitution.”
“Seeing as our offices are all gender-neutral (i.e. not limited to ‘men only’ etc.), the update reflects how students of any gender identity could serve in positions,” Strike said.
According to the Student Council Director of University Relations, 25 percent of the student body voted on the referendum question, with 88.75 percent approving the passage. The minimum threshold for passage is a 66.6 percent affirmative vote.
Strike also told Campus Reform “that the team is currently working to update the existing constitution, which has not been amended since February 2008.”
Earlier this year, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) and Rules Committee Chairman James McGovern (D-MA) banned gender pronouns from documents when they unveiled the rules for the 117th Congress on Friday, which contained “future-focused” proposals, including the elimination of gendered terms, such as “father, mother, son, and daughter.”