The General Assembly’s Division of Research continues its efforts to make all forms of Delaware law gender silent.
In 1995, legislation was passed to make the entirety of the Delaware Code gender neutral, but last year, lawmakers took the process one step further and passed a bill directing code revisers to make all past and future code language gender silent.
Gender silent drafting techniques use the noun for which the pronouns are referring to. For example, the noun “individual” may replace the phrase “he or she,” unless a law directly affects a specific gender.
Division of Research Director Mark Cutrona explains they are now proposing the same technique be used for the Delaware Constitution to help continue their clarity efforts.
“There are often times where you’re having two separate actors acting, so it could be the governor and the commissioner of elections, and when you’re switching from the noun usage to the pronoun uses, it can become questionable as to who you are referring to.”
He says over the summer, the division spent time going through the constitution and identifying all pronoun usages and the correct noun to replace them.
Cutrona says the legislation would be introduced in March at the earliest, but because this change requires a constitutional amendment, the bill will have to pass in two separate 2 year General Assembly sessions before it takes effect.
In a separate effort, State Rep. Eric Morrison (D-Newark) filed legislation to make the Delaware Code more inclusive by updating the definition of sexual orientation.
Last year, Morrison sponsored legislation to streamline the definition of sexual orientation under the Criminal Code to include heterosexuality, homosexuality and bisexuality.
Now, he’s looking to add asexuality and pansexuality.
“These are two sexual orientations where people, a lot of times, simply are not recognized, and a lot of people don’t even know about these folks. So I wanted these people to be able to see themselves within Delaware Code to make these folks feel like they are valued in Delaware," Morrison says.
He explains most references to sexual orientation within the Delaware Code are related to discrimination, and he wants to make sure those who are asexual and pansexual are legally protected from unlawful discrimination.
The bill was introduced in December and currently awaits consideration in the House Administration Committee.
