Other terms that would change:

"Manmade" to "human-made" or "machine made"

"Pregnant" to "pregnant employee"

"Master" to "captain"

"Sportsman" to "hunters"

"Sister" or "brother" to "sibling"

" ... I’ve had interns and appointees on city commissions who use they/them pronouns, and to them this matters deeply," said Robinson, who identified as a cisgender, or non-transgender, male. "There’s power in language. This is a small move, but it matters."

The update to the Berkeley Municipal Code would cost an estimated $600, according to City Clerk Mark Numainville, and will be paid from the city’s existing contract with a publishing company.

Numainville, in his review of the proposed changes, cited guidance from the League of California Cities. The league distributes the guidance to California communities but doesn't know who has adopted it, said Catherine Carlton, president of the group's LGBT caucus.

Carlton said the idea behind the guidance was to tackle unconscious bias in words like fireman or policeman.

"I'm sure there's going to be someone who's criticizing this, 'Oh well, it's going too far.' But it is picking up those unconscious things that linger and making a conscious step forward to make sure that everyone does feel included," she said.

It's important for government to make these changes, she added: "When we do it, it shows the nonprofit and profit commercial world, 'Look, this is the way that we should be going.'"

Berkeley ordinances go into effect 30 days after they’ve been signed by all required parties, which likely means the one on gender-neutral language will go into effect by late August, said Matthai Chakko, assistant to the Berkeley city manager.

This post has been updated with comment from the League of California Cities.