Democrats Declare War On Words 'Husband,' 'Wife'

Link

More than two dozen Democrats have proposed legislation that would eliminate the words "husband" and "wife" from federal law.

Those "gendered terms" would be replaced by "gender-neutral" words like "spouse" or "married couple," according to the bill from Rep. Lois Capps, D-Calif.

"The Amend the Code for Marriage Equality Act recognizes that the words in our laws have meaning and can continue to reflect prejudice and discrimination even when rendered null by our highest courts," Capps said. "Our values as a country are reflected in our laws. I authored this bill because it is imperative that our federal code reflect the equality of all marriages."

The Supreme Court ruled in June that the 14th Amendment to the Constitution means all states have to license same-sex marriages, a ruling that effectively ended the same-sex marriage debate in America. Capps said her bill was aimed at taking the next step, which is to ensure the United States Code "reflects the equality of all marriages."

She said her bill would also have other benefits if it became law. In one example, she noted that U.S. law says it's illegal to threaten the president's wife, but says nothing about the president's husband.

a reply to: Kromlech

Makes sense to me. Language can be very important in interpreting the law and therefore needs to be updated from time to time to better encompass its purpose.

Especially, when Conservatives love technicalities. It is their bread and butter.

a reply to: Kromlech

Lets ban daughter and son too, because this words describes sex.


WHAAAAT!?

I don't know what to say, as screwed up as the country is today... This is a priority...

I need some whiskey stat..

As much as it irritates people, semantics count when it comes to the wording of a law. I don't see why "spouse" is some horrible alternative to "husband" of "wife."

WTF????

I am convinced "Liberals" suffer from a serious mental condition. Republicans have issues too, I'm not taking anything away from them here either... But "Liberals" are a special kind of stupid, many years of rehab and closely monitored assistance is needed..... I'm not even joking, and that is the sad part. :/

Do you know how many laws were used to subjugate women simply because it was originally written as "man" instead of "person"? There is no madness behind the reasoning.

My beef is there are a metric butt ton of real problems they should be seeing to, not racing to fix a possible issue down the road.

Why not fix problems that need fixing now...This isn't one of them sorry.

a reply to: residentofearth

There are no Laws that are specific to "Son" or "Daughter" they are always listed as Child or Dependant or whatever generic term is deemed to be necessary.

The same should be applied to US Laws where Husband and Wife are used, therefore ensuring equality and protection under the law for couples who are legally married but are not husband and wife.

The title of the thread is somewhat misleading, the words are not to be banned, they are to be removed from Law...

a reply to: irishhaf

Well Congress also decided they needed to tackle steroids in baseball instead of like...a couple of wars, an economy, labor market, etc.

Something they can run home and tell potential voters they worked hard on.

For "equality."

a reply to: Shamrock6

I know that infuriated me as well...

If my health was better homesteading in northern Alaska would be high on my must do list... Like #1 and #2 on the list.

a reply to: Kromlech

Query:

Why are the gender specific terms being removed, rather than just adding extra terminology to the pre-existing document?

a reply to: TrueBrit

Even her own House site has almost no information on the bill. All she says is that it'll fix "areas of gender discrimination in federal law" and does nothing to explain what those are, beyond the whole Presidential spouse thing.

My question would be do gay couples not refer to their spouse as a husband or wife? I mean...I know I've heard them doing so. As well as spouse? Or ball and chain? Sugar lips?

Oh my god, what if they amend the law so you can't call your spouse "the ol ball and chain" because it could be construed as derogatory?!!

Seriously though, I don't see how this is going to change a man calling his spouse a wife or husband. Or vice versa.

a reply to: Kromlech

Well considering same sex marriage is now legal, changing the terms to describe two people who are legally married makes sense. For legal documentation, you wouldn't describe two same sex couples as husband and wife. Times are changing and so is legal terminology.

Are you freaking kidding me???

I had a long rant typed out and as I was typing I realized I was just wasting my time on STUPID!

originally posted by: irishhaf
I don't know what to say, as screwed up as the country is today... This is a priority...

I need some whiskey stat..

Give me some Suntory whiskey please.

a reply to: Kromlech

And here come all the ignorant right wingers, preaching nonsense about something they don't understand.

This is a legal definition, which would benefit from being changed, now that same sex marriage is legal across the nation. It makes no difference to you, or to anyone's lives or freedoms or rights, it's simply a legal change to make contracts easier to manage.

But don't let this common sense stop you from having that typically Republican five minutes of ignorant rage

a reply to: Shamrock6

Oh, this bill is not going to change the way that two individuals in a relationship with one another, refer to their significant others within the framework of the relationship itself. Those things are deeply personal choices, and no bill has the capacity to change those, either over nights or over generations.

However, I still think that rather than rid the terms "husband" and "wife" from statute, it makes more sense to include additions to encompass all the other ways a legally recognised relationship might be classified or described.

originally posted by: KnightFire
Are you freaking kidding me???

I had a long rant typed out and as I was typing I realized I was just wasting my time on STUPID!

Yes, the stupidity of being outraged by nothing more than a proposed change in the terminology used in contracts.

originally posted by: WeRpeons
a reply to: Kromlech

Well considering same sex marriage is now legal, changing the terms to describe two people who are legally married makes sense. For legal documentation, you wouldn't describe two same sex couples as husband and wife. Times are changing and so is legal terminology.

A new door opens when man goes against God's law of forbidden common sense.