Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler scrubs gendered language from City Charter to be more 'inclusive' after narrowly winning reelection despite criticism over protests

 The Mayor of Portland has announced the removal of gendered language from the city's charter in a bid to become more inclusive.

In a tweet late on Thursday, Ted Wheeler said: 'The language of the documents that guide the City should reflect our community.

'Today, Council authorized the City Auditor to remove feminine and masculine terms from the City Charter.'

Wheeler, who won a second term earlier this month despite criticism after months of protests and riots in the city, added: 'This important step will help make our documents more inclusive of all gender identities.' 

The move will see terms including 'she', 'he', 'herself' and 'himself' purged from the progressive city's founding document.  

Portland Mayor announced in a tweet late on Thursday that gendered language would be wiped from the City Charter in a bid to be more inclusive

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Wheeler narrowly won reelection earlier this month after criticism of the police's response to months of protests and riots as well as his own management of the city's homelessness issue [File photo]

It follows similar action by the cities of Philadelphia, Tulsa and Oklahoma, all of which wiped gendered references from their charters last year, Fox News reported. 

Berkeley, California has also scrapped words such as manhole, brother and policeman from its law books. 

The changes to Portland's City Charter had been drafted by the City Auditor's Office. 

Speaking before the move was approved, Chief Deputy Amanda Lamb said the 'intent is to be more inclusive in our language.'

The linguistic tweaks - more than five dozen in total - do not require a citywide referendum or voter approval like other amendments to the city charter.

A decades-old provision in the document allows the city auditor - with approval of the city attorney - to remove gendered language from it.

Lamb said the decision to propose the changes now is in anticipation of the upcoming Charter Review Commission, a citizen-led body that forms once every 10 years.  

Portland and the wider state of Oregon has long been seen as a leader on liberal social and political issues. 

In 2017, Oregon became the first state to allow residents to list their gender as 'not specified' when applying for driver's licenses, learner's permits and identity cards, Fox News reported.  

Under that rule, the cards of those who select the 'not specified' option will be marked with an X, rather than an M or F to indicate their gender.   

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Portland has been plagued by months of protests and riots since the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in May. Pictured: Police officers disperse a crowd of demonstrators on September 18

Thursday's announcement by Wheeler came after he was narrowly reelected as mayor this month despite criticism over his handling of homelessness and the police response to protests and riots that have plagued Portland for months. 

The city has been the site of violent clashes between police and protesters on several occasions since demonstrations began in May after the killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police.  

Speaking after his win, Wheeler called for unity as he embarked on another four years as mayor, Oregonlive.com reported.

'We're going to need to come together as never before to address short-term issues and the long-term changes and investments needed to rebuild our economy, rebuild confidence in law enforcement and restore hope for our future,' he said in a Zoom statement.