As we tiptoe into 2021, many of us are relieved that 2020 is over. Unfortunately, in some ways, things are getting even crazier than in 2020. Honestly, I did not think that was possible.
Ahead of the 117th Congress’s opening in Washington, D.C., House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who I will go ahead and admit I am not a fan of, and Rules Committee Chairman James P. McGovern introduced a new code of conduct. One aspect of it is designed to be friendlier to LGBTQ lawmakers and citizens. People are people and should be respected as such, which I totally agree with.
However, in this “new code,” one of the major changes is that everything is gender-neutral. No longer is a woman a “woman;” she is now a “person.” It’s the same with a man; he is no longer a “man,” but a person. Sons and daughters are now labeled as children, and grandsons and granddaughters are grandchildren, at least for Congress.
In response to this, GOP leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted, “This is stupid.” I cannot agree more.
It does not matter if you are black, white, red, green or yellow with polka dots. It does not make an ounce of sense. Everyone has the right to be respected. I am not putting anyone down.
Who grows up saying, “I am going to be the best parent to my child?” No, we grew up saying we are going to be the best mommy/daddy.
I can see some parent born of the male persuasion posting on social media, saying “check out this parent’s child,” instead of “check out daddy’s little girl.” It is pure nonsense.
Does this mean that Mother’s Day and Father’s Day will fall to the wayside? Will we just have a Parent’s Day?
To take away gender references is to take away part of our identity. I am a woman and proud to be one. Furthermore, I am a mommy/momma/mother of seven children and a mini. I am proud of that, too.
To take away our gender references is a slap in the face of the women who fought so hard for women to have equal rights, to be recognized as a force to contend with. Those women worked hard to allow women the opportunities we now have, and now Pelosi and McGovern want to strip away and declare everything neutral? Shame on them. We, the people, deserve better. Those in Congress deserve better than that. No one is crazy about politicians, but they should be able to brag about their families, too, and not have to reduce their roles in their families.
Emanuel Cleaver, a United Methodist minister, prayed at the beginning of the first day of Congress this year, ending his prayer with “amen and a woman.” He said his reference of “a woman” was for the largest amount of women ever in Congress. That would have been a nice gesture except for a couple of things.
Grammatically, if amen was a gender word, which it is not, ‘men’ is the plural form of man. That means ‘a’ would be the wrong participle to use, but giving the benefit of the doubt would refer to all the men in Congress. Yet, instead of going plural with ‘women,’ he chose to use the singular reference instead, so was the gesture for all women in Congress, or just one woman?
Secondly, and most importantly, ‘amen’ is a Hebrew word that means “truth.” The word is not a gender reference. I am sure Cleaver was trying to do a play on words, but that was not a word with which to do so.
How this got approved is beyond me. I don’t care which political party anyone is affiliated with, we should be proud of who we are. God created us as men and women.
If it is acceptable to remove a part of our identities, then what else will they do?
So are we going to hell in a handbasket or on a silver platter?
Susan Amundson is the News/Features Editor of The Columbian-Progress. She may be reached at (601) 736-2611 or samundson@columbianprogress.com.
