Moray Council documents will now be written in a gender neutral way.
Pronouns such as he or she are expected to be dropped, and prefixes such as Mrs and Miss could be on the way out.
The move is expected to encourage equality and promote the local authority’s inclusive culture.
Conservative councillor for Heldon and Laich Bridget Mustard called for a change at a meeting this week.
She raised concerns over the language used in papers reviewing the authority’s financial strategies.
‘Out-of-date’
Mrs Mustard said: “I have no issue with the policies themselves. But throughout the document there’s a lot of reference to his and her, which is not really reflective of current practice and using their as a gender neutral term.
“I believe the council’s documents should contain gender neutral language to promote equality and demonstrate the council’s inclusive culture.”
She asked for the financial papers, and all other council documents to be written in a neutral way
Monitoring officer Alasdair McEachan, officer responsible for equalities, agreed with the move.
He said: “No one can argue with the point made by Councillor Mustard.
“It’s a matter of our being vigilant over these things.
“And reminding staff when documents come forward for approval at committee to watch the wording and make sure it’s contemporary.”
Elgin South member Graham Leadbitter endorsed the Heldon and Laich councillor’s comments.
Speaking after the meeting Mrs Mustard said: “There was a lot of ‘his/her responsibility’ in the report.
Language needs to represent society
“It’s always ‘his’ first. And people become blind to it.
“It doesn’t need it, it should be the ‘post holders responsibilities’.
“As a council we really need to modernise our language.”
Equalities champion and SNP councillor for Speyside Glenlivet Juli Harris backed Mrs Mustard’s request.
She said: “This is an issue that should be addressed as it’s out of date and not representative of society today.
“The use of gender neutral wording in all of Moray Council’s documents and media output will be a positive step towards ensuring inclusive representation for all, irrespective of gender identity.
“I think that Mrs/Miss is on the way out as adult denominations and a simple Ms suffices for those who identify as female.
“We were chatting about how we refer to our ‘colleague’ these days or simply a name, as gender becomes less relevant in the workplace.”
Green councillor for Forres Draeyk Van Der Horn is also backing the move.
He said: “It’s a step in the right direction.
Council needs to show leadership
“I don’t mind he or they, but I would prefer people to call me Draeyk Van Der Horn rather than Mr.
“I think it’s the times we live in, and referring to people by their own name seems very progressive.
“It’s also about showing Moray we’re progressive, that we’re listening and the council is showing leadership on this.”
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