# Howard County Question A: Gender Neutrality (charter amendment) **In one sentence:** Howard County voters decide whether the county charter — the document that sets up county government — should swap words like "he" and "she" for gender-neutral words like "they" and "them," with no change to any powers, duties, services or taxes [1][3][8]. ## What a FOR vote does If approved, the Charter Amendment replaces gender-specific words in the charter with gender-neutral words (for example, "he" becomes "they") [1][3]. The council sent it to the ballot by a 5-0 vote on March 2, 2026, and the resolution provides that if a majority of voters approve it, the change takes effect about 30 days after the election [8][12]. The official amendment text lists the changes across sections on the council, the executive, and more; it also removes a line saying the "masculine gender" should be read to include the feminine [4]. ## What an AGAINST vote does A vote against leaves the gender-specific words in the charter unchanged [1][3]. Nothing else in the charter changes; it changes wording only, with no change to county powers, services or taxes [8]. ## Strongest case FOR - The county's LGBTQIA+ Commission recommended in June 2025 that the charter adopt gender-neutral terminology, and the official fiscal analysis says the goal is to reflect that all Charter provisions apply "clearly and equally" to every individual, regardless of gender identity [8][13]. - The council's resolution says gender-neutral language promotes "clarity, consistency, and equal treatment" by ensuring Charter provisions apply uniformly to all persons, regardless of gender identity [8]. - The fiscal analysis notes peer jurisdictions — Anne Arundel, Baltimore, and Prince George's counties — made similar updates, and the resolution names Harford County, the City of Hyattsville, and the Town of Upper Marlboro among them [8][13]. - HCCA, the Howard County Citizens Association, submitted written testimony on the measure on January 21, 2026, and a HCCA member was called to speak in support at the public hearing [11][12]. ## Strongest case AGAINST - A political analyst, John Dedie, told WBFF the change is routine — "kind of low-hanging fruit" — and that residents have bigger concerns, such as household costs and safety, that the council should be handling instead [5]. - Fitzgerald Mofor, a candidate for the Maryland House of Delegates in District 9A, told WBFF he sees "a council that is simply out of touch and not really connected with the needs of Howard County residents" [5]. - Individual Joel Hurewitz, who spoke at the council hearing, argued in a letter that if the county is going to a vote on technical fixes, it should bundle in other outdated references (such as the state's old court name) rather than send just the pronoun change [10][12]. - A possible argument: an AGAINST voter may believe the county should spend its limited charter amendments on more substantive changes, or prefer the wording that has served the county for decades. (This is reasoning, not a statement from a named group.) ## If you care most about... - **Inclusivity and modern, clear documents** -> FOR fits, because it updates the charter to neutral wording [8]. - **Keeping the proven charter unchanged** -> AGAINST fits, because the existing words stay as they are [1][3]. - **Low cost, small administrative change** -> the fiscal analysis says the change is non-substantive and estimates the cost of updating the Charter at about $2,600 [6][13]. - **Local leaders focused on day-to-day priorities (jobs, safety, costs)** -> an AGAINST voter may see the effort as misdirected, as Dedie and Mofor did [5]. ## Who supports and who opposes Supporters found in sources: the Howard County LGBTQIA+ Commission [8][13]; HCCA, the Howard County Citizens Association [11][12]; the Howard County Council, which passed the resolution 5-0 on March 2, 2026 [12]. Opponents: no organized group opposed it in the sources checked; the opposition in the sources comes from individual voices — John Dedie [5], Fitzgerald Mofor [5], and Joel Hurewitz [10]. Not found in sources checked: any formal anti-amendment group. ## What we could not verify - The full text of HCCA's January 21, 2026 written testimony could not be read in full in the sources checked; only that it was filed and that a HCCA member was called to speak could be confirmed [11][12]. - I could not read the full text of Hurewitz's letter beyond the portions visible in the sources checked [10]. - No source found stated the exact ballot language's "FOR/AGAINST" wording differs from the official text supplied for this guide; the Maryland Board of Elections ballot page was used as authoritative [1][3]. ## Confidence Medium. The official ballot text, the council resolution, the fiscal analysis and the unanimous 5-0 vote are all official documents, so the core facts are solid. Confidence is not High only because organized opposition was thin and the HCCA written-testimony text could not be read in full. ## Sources [1] Howard County General Election Ballot — Maryland State Board of Elections — https://elections.maryland.gov/elections/2026/general_ballots/Howard.pdf [3] Ballot Questions for the November 3, 2026 Election — Maryland State Board of Elections — https://elections.maryland.gov/elections/2026/ballot_questions.html [4] Howard County Proposed Charter Amendment Text — Maryland State Board of Elections — https://www.elections.maryland.gov/elections/2026/Howard_County_Proposed_Charter_Amendment_Text.pdf [5] Howard County voters to decide Question A, swapping gendered terms for neutral wording — WBFF (FOX 45) — https://foxbaltimore.com/news/local/howard-county-voters-question-a-gender-specific-terms-neutral-wording-fitzgerald-mofor-public-safety-funding [6] Council Resolution 23-2026 Fiscal Analysis — Howard County — https://cc.howardcountymd.gov/sites/default/files/2026-01/CR023-2026%20Fiscal%20Analysis.pdf [8] CR23-2026 (Resolution, as Introduced) — Howard County — https://cc.howardcountymd.gov/sites/default/files/2026-01/CR023-2026.pdf [10] Hurewitz letter to Council on CR23-2026 — Howard County — https://apps.howardcountymd.gov/olis/api/Documents/LegislationDocument/42753 [11] HCCA Written Testimony on CR23-2026 (Jan 21, 2026) — Howard County Citizens Association — https://howardcountyhcca.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/2026-Jan-21-CR23-2026-HoCo-Council-Testimony-HCCA.pdf [12] CR23-2026 (Final) & March 2, 2026 Council Session — Howard County / Open Publica — https://apps.howardcountymd.gov/Olis/LegislationDetail/14962/CR23-2026 [13] Council Resolution 23-2026 Fiscal Analysis (OLIS) — Howard County — https://apps.howardcountymd.gov/Olis/api/Documents/LegislationDocument/41532