04/03/2009 01:00 PM House JUDICIARY

HJR 2 - CONST AM: GENDER-NEUTRAL REFERENCES                                                                                   
                                                                                                                                
2:44:44 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
CHAIR RAMRAS announced that the  final order of business would be                                                               
HOUSE  JOINT  RESOLUTION  NO.  2,  Proposing  amendments  to  the                                                               
Constitution of the State of Alaska  to avoid the use of personal                                                               
pronouns  and   similar  references  that  denote   masculine  or                                                               
feminine gender in that document.                                                                                               
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  GATTO,  speaking  as   one  of  the  joint  prime                                                               
sponsors, explained that HJR 2  proposes amendments to the Alaska                                                               
State Constitution  such that if  approved by the  voters, gender                                                               
specific  pronouns   would  be   replaced  with   gender  neutral                                                               
pronouns.   He then  offered examples  of specific  language that                                                               
would be  changed under  the resolution, and  listed some  of the                                                               
positions held  and contributions  made by women  in Alaska.   In                                                               
response to  a question,  he acknowledged  that federal  law says                                                               
one may  not discriminate on  the basis  of sex, but  offered his                                                               
belief  that that  also means  one  may not  discriminate on  the                                                               
basis of gender.                                                                                                                
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE  LYNN   questioned  which   term  would   be  more                                                               
appropriate [for use in the title].                                                                                             
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE GATTO opined that the term "gender" would be.                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
2:49:25 PM                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                
REPRESENTATIVE DAHLSTROM moved  to report HJR 2  out of committee                                                               
with  individual  recommendations  and  the  accompanying  fiscal                                                               
notes.   There being no  objection, HJR  2 was reported  from the                                                               
House Judiciary Standing Committee.