While New Yorkers struggle to pay their property taxes, fill their gas tanks, afford groceries, and keep their families in the state, Albany has once again demonstrated just how disconnected it has become from the concerns of everyday citizens.
State lawmakers are now advancing legislation that would remove references to “mother” and “father” from sections of New York law and replace them with gender-neutral terminology. Supporters insist this is merely a technical update designed to reflect modern family structures. But many New Yorkers see it for what it is: another attempt by government to redefine reality through legislation.
No law can change the fact that every human being has a mother and a father. Biology is not a political opinion. It is not a partisan issue. It is not subject to amendment by the State Legislature.
Yet Albany continues to devote its time and energy to symbolic cultural battles while the issues that are actually driving families and businesses out of New York remain unresolved. The state leads the nation in population loss. Property taxes remain among the highest in America. Public confidence in government continues to decline. Housing affordability has become a crisis. Yet somehow lawmakers have found the time to focus on rewriting words that have been universally understood for generations.
The concern extends beyond simple terminology. Language matters. Words have meaning. Mothers and fathers are not interchangeable bureaucratic concepts. They represent unique and irreplaceable roles in the lives of children and families. When government begins removing those distinctions from law, many citizens reasonably question what comes next.
Perhaps most troubling is the arrogance behind these efforts. The overwhelming majority of New Yorkers still use the terms mother and father every day. Children understand them. Families understand them. Communities understand them. The problem exists not in society, but in the minds of policymakers who increasingly believe that longstanding traditions, institutions, and even basic language must be re-engineered to fit the latest ideological trends.
New Yorkers deserve a government focused on public safety, economic growth, infrastructure, tax relief, and educational excellence. Instead, they are getting a government increasingly preoccupied with social engineering and symbolic virtue signaling.
At some point, Albany must decide whether it wants to govern or lecture.
The people of this state are not asking lawmakers to redefine parenthood. They are asking them to make New York affordable, safe, and competitive once again.
Until that happens, bills like this will serve as yet another reminder of how far removed the political class has become from the daily realities of the citizens they were elected to serve.
The Valley Viewpoint 