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Winthrop resident urges gender‑neutral, role‑based language in charter draft
Summary
Whitney Khan, a Winthrop resident, told the Charter Commission the draft should replace gendered pronouns with role‑based wording, citing Maine drafting guidance and offering sample rewrites such as replacing "his/her successor" with "a successor."
Whitney Khan, a Winthrop resident, told the Charter Commission on March 10 that the commission should adopt role‑based, gender‑neutral language across the draft charter. Khan said the change would "avoid bias, assumption, or exclusion" and is consistent with Maine drafting practice.
Khan noted the commission's mission statement lists diversity and inclusion as guiding principles and pointed to the Maine legislative drafting manual and recent state action as precedent: "The Maine legislative drafting manual has directed the use of gender‑neutral language since 1987," Khan said, and she read a sample revision replacing "his/her successor" with "a successor." Khan added that the commission's draft already applies gender‑neutral language to several offices and proposed that the standard be applied consistently to all offices.
Commissioners thanked Khan and asked clarifying questions about the scope of the suggested edits; one commissioner noted the draft already replaces many pronoun constructions and saw no objection. After limited discussion the commission signaled willingness to consider the proposed wording changes as part of ongoing redrafting work.
The proposal was submitted in writing for the commission's review and will be incorporated into the commission's editing process before the next report. The commission's next scheduled business includes final review of the preliminary report and any additional text edits before transmitting the report to the town council.
