’He’ can mean all genders under Manx law.

That was the explanation given as to how legislation that pre-dated a rule that stipulated gender neutral language be approached when it was updated.

In 2004, the House of Keys ruled that ’gender neutral drafting’ be used in new bills to be put before the legislature. It means legislation uses ’he or she’ or refers to ’the person’.

Attorney General John Quinn was called on to explain the position further in the Legislative Council.

He said updates to legislation that pre-existed that policy would follow the form of the original act.

Therefore, amendments to an act that referred to ’he’ throughout, would do the same, to ensure consistency.

But the Interpretation Act of 2015 states: ’Gender words indicating a gender include other genders.’

Consistency

Mr Quinn explained: ’As such, even where legislation contains a reference to "he", that reference is to be construed as including other genders.

’The very fact that the section refers to "other genders" in the plural - an issue which was queried by the previous Bishop when the bill for the 2015 Act was in the Legislative Council - is a tacit indication of the change in attitude to those issues of gender.’

He clarified that meant it ’would also include a person who identifies themselves as being neither male or female, or indeed transgender’.

He said that while older legislation would not be re-written, it should be ’read through the prism’ of the Interpretation Act.

Earlier this month the House of Keys agreed to modernise its procedural language, which often assigns a gender to certain roles.

MHKs voted to support a motion from Ann Corlett (Douglas Central) that, in future, standing orders should use gender neutral descriptions, where appropriate, instead of ’he’ or ’she’.