Emergency action seeks to prevent erasure of 'mother' and 'father' in code of largest US town

HEMPSTEAD TOWNSHIP, N.Y. — The largest township in America is pushing back against new state legislation that would replace the terms "mother" and "father" with gender-neutral language in New York law.

Hempstead Township, a Republican-led community of approximately 800,000 residents on Long Island, adopted an emergency resolution this week in direct response to a bill passed by the New York State Legislature. The state measure would substitute "mother" with "gestating parent," "father" with "non-gestating parent," and change "paternity" to "parentage" across various statutes.

Township Supervisor John Ferretti said the legislation amounts to what he called "woke nonsense" and expressed personal offense at the change.

"As a father of two, it was an insult to me and to my wife," Ferretti told a news outlet. "As soon as I learned, the first thing I did was bring my wife into our bedroom and say, 'Look what they did up in Albany. They're eliminating the terms mother and father from state law.'"

The supervisor said his nine-year-old daughter overheard the conversation and grew upset, asking him whether she could still call him "dad."

"It really hit close to home," Ferretti continued. "We need to take a stand in the Town of Hempstead, the largest township in America, and make it clear not just to residents in the Town of Hempstead, but to residents throughout New York State, that we won't stand for this kind of woke nonsense."

The emergency resolution passed by Hempstead officials is designed to ensure the township continues using "mother" and "father" in its own local laws and municipal policies, regardless of whether the state-level legislation takes effect.

Support for the resolution has come from several Republican lawmakers representing Nassau County, including Assembly Minority Leader Ed Ra, state Senator Steve Rhoads, and Assemblywoman Patricia Canzoneri-Fitzpatrick.

Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, who is also the Republican candidate for governor, criticized the proposal on social media.

"In Kathy Hochul's New York, 'mom' is now defined as 'gestating parent,'" Blakeman wrote. "Not when I'm Governor! I'll stand up for moms and dads against this insanity."

The bill is currently awaiting action from Governor Kathy Hochul. The legislative session concluded last week, but Hochul has until the end of the year to sign the measure into law. During a recent news conference, the governor indicated she had not yet reviewed the proposal and declined to comment on pending legislation.

Ferretti suggested Hochul would delay any decision until after the election. "She's not brave enough to take a stand," he said.

Proponents of the state legislation have argued the changes are meant to be more inclusive of New Yorkers with non-traditional gender identities.

Conservative advocacy groups have mobilized against the bill. Maggie McKneely, representing the Concerned Women for America Legislative Action Committee, called the changes "inherently dehumanizing."

"It reduces women to just their reproductive organs, but women are so much more than that," McKneely said. "Being a mother is an incredible gift. Women do so much more than that, and to reduce them to just whether or not they are capable of gestating a child is really sad and dehumanizing."

This conflict marks another cultural battleground for Hempstead Township. Officials there have previously championed conservative measures, including efforts to bar biological males from competing in girls' and women's sports at athletic facilities operated by the township.