H.R. 4373: Equality in Laws Act

The "Equality in Laws Act" aims to update the language used in the United States Code, which is the collection of federal laws, by replacing gender-specific pronouns and nouns with gender-neutral language. Here is a breakdown of the key components of the bill:

1. Purpose

The purpose of the bill is to ensure that federal laws are written in a way that is inclusive of all genders. This involves changing terms that specifically refer to one gender (like "he" or "she") to more inclusive alternatives that can refer to any gender.

2. Changes to the Law

The bill directs the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives to:

• Replace terms like his and hers with options like the individual’s, their, or the appropriate possessive noun based on context.
• Substitute he, him, she, and her with terms such as the individual, they, or other suitable nouns or titles.

3. Focus on Positive Law

The revisions will focus on titles of the United States Code that have been officially enacted into law (referred to as "positive law"). The changes will maintain the original meaning and intent of the laws while making the language more inclusive.

4. Drafting Amendments

For law titles that have not yet been enacted, the Law Revision Counsel is instructed to draft proposals to include these gender-neutral changes, again ensuring that such changes align with the original intent of Congress.

5. Definition of Gender-Neutral Language

The bill defines gender-neutral language as language that refers to all genders without distinguishing between them and does not exclude any gender.

6. Overall Impact

The bill's ultimate goal is to create a more inclusive legal framework that recognizes and respects all gender identities through the use of language that does not favor one gender over another.

Relevant Companies

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