Lakeland pronoun debate: Should city charter use 'he or she'? Or 'they'?

Lakeland voters could unexpectedly find themselves in the middle of the culture war over gender identity and the the use of "he," "she" or "they" in 2025.

One of the city's Charter Review Committee's most divisive debates at last week's meeting was over the use of pronouns in Section 14, which describes the functions and power of the city's mayor and mayor pro tem.

City Attorney Palmer Davis asked the 14 committee members to consider using consistent pronouns throughout the charter — a singular "they," or "he or she."

The request stemmed from a section of the charter, 14(a), with inconsistency.

"The mayor shall be a member of the commission, shall preside at all meetings of the commission and shall perform such other duties consistent with the office as may be imposed by the commission; and they shall have a voice and a vote in the proceedings of the commission, but no veto power. He or she may use the title of mayor in any case in which the execution of legal instruments or writing other other necessity arising from the general laws of the state so require... "

Two committee members found themselves at odds: one based on her legal experience, the other on his personal beliefs.

Teddra Porteous, a labor and employment attorney, said she was not in favor of changing all such references to "he or she" because it could be seen as exclusionary.

"Sometimes there are people who don't identify as either he or she," Porteous said. "If we did 'he or she,' I think that would be exclusionary to those people who don't identify as a he or she. I would suggest we stay with they."

City Clerk Kelly Koos said the prior Charter Review Committee made a decision to change all pronoun references in the city charter from "he or she" to be replaced with a singular "they."

"Clearly, we missed this section," Koos said. "We spent a lot of time debating 'he or she' last time."

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James Ring, who operates a political consulting firm, Outsider Strategies LLC., said he would stand opposed to removing any reference to "he or she" from Lakeland's City Charter.

"The idea we will change 'he and she' to be 'they' to somehow deny the fact there is a man and a woman I think it's entering ourselves into a national debate that has never been an issue in our city. I think it's unnecessary," Ring said at last week's committee meeting. "I think 'he or she' is and has been fine since the beginning of our city. I would not be in favor in the future if we decide to change all the 'he or she's' to 'they.'"

Ring referenced the larger debate over gender identity and use of pronouns. One of the areas it's been most intense is in Florida's classrooms.

In March, a settlement was reached between Florida's education officials and civil rights attorneys over the Parents Rights In Education Act, dubbed by critics as the "Don't Say Gay" law, as USA Today reported. The settlement makes clear that the law doesn't bar classroom references to LGBTQ-plus people and issues.

In April, a federal judge blocked the state's ban against teachers using their own preferred pronouns, as reported by Reuters.

Committee members asked Davis whether there was a legal standard, and he said the pronouns "he or she" are still the most common usage in the city's documents.

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Committee member Pat Steed asked that "housekeeping issues" like the use of pronouns be reviewed and discussed after all other amendments in the city's charter are reviewed. This was unanimously approved.

This means the committee might take back up the issue of pronoun use in Lakeland's City Charter. If a decision is approved to stick with "he or she" or "they," it would go before the City Commission before possibly becoming a ballot referendum for voters to decide how gender identity is referenced in the city's key legal document.

Sara-Megan Walsh can be reached at swalsh@theledger.com or 863-802-7545. Follow on X @SaraWalshFl.

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Lakeland pronoun debate: Should city charter use 'he or she'? Or 'they'?