New York Democrats are pushing a bill that removes “mother” and “father” from state child custody laws in a move toward gender neutrality.
The bill, Senate Bill 9316, replaces “mother” with “gestating parent” and “father” with “non-gestating parent,” The New York Post reports. The term “putative father” is also changed to “alleged parent.”
New York’s Conservative Party Chairman Gerard Kassar said the bill is “woke culture run amok. It’s one-upmanship.” Kassar explained that the legislation is an “example of how out of tune the New York legislature is. It’s an unnecessary and wasteful use of time.”
“Imagine people who are considering moving to New York seeing this and saying, ‘Do I need this silliness?’ This is a really weird group of elected officials. It comes out of left field,” he said.
Republican State Senator Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick condemned the bill. “At a time when New Yorkers are being crushed by utility bills, rising costs, and public safety concerns, Albany Democrats have decided one of their final priorities in the last days of session should be replacing mothers and fathers in state law. That is not what families are asking for.” She declared, “I am a mother and proud to be called ‘mother.’
“New Yorkers are proud to celebrate moms and dads, and they would rather we, as lawmakers, focus on the issues that actually matter,” Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick added to the outlet.
A similar measure was pushed in Wisconsin last year. Governor Tony Evers (D) moved to eliminate words such as “man,” “wife,” and “mother” in statutory language and replace them with terms like “inseminated person” and “parent who gave birth.”
