The Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors has voted to remove gender-specific pronouns from the County Ordinance Code, promoting inclusivity. The obsolete code, stagnant in its wording since 1970, showed its age with over 800 instances of gendered language scattered across its pages and was overdue for a revision; these now-outdated terms have been supplanted with gender-neutral descriptors such as "the department head" instead of "he" or "she."

In a statement of progress, Board Chair and District 5 Supervisor Federal Glover told Contra Costa County's news release, “Contra Costa County is a community for all, and our policies should reflect our dedication to serving everyone,” further, this change was indicative of a commitment to embracing that every resident is deserving of equal consideration in legal language. Not merely satisfied with the present adjustments, plans are in place to establish a policy mandating gender-neutral language in all county policies and protocols, as well as existing and future policies reflecting a systematic approach to eradicating outdated norms in official frameworks.

District 1 Supervisor John Gioia, Chair of the Board’s Equity Committee, asserted the significance of this reform, stating, as per Contra Costa County's news release,  "We are changing our county ordinances to reflect today’s reality and removing gender references turns the page on a practice that has no place in county policy." The undertone of Gioia's words is not only the erasing of an old way but also ushering in a more sensitive governing process that hopes to mirror today's societal fabric, diverse and complex.