Emergency action seeks to prevent erasure of 'mother' and 'father' in code of largest US town

By Fox News · Fox News

Officials in America's most populated township are taking urgent action to stop a Democrat-backed bill that would replace "mother" and "father" in New York State law with gender-neutral parental terms. The emergency resolution from Hempstead Township comes just days after New York State Legislature passed a bill that would replace "mother" with the term "gestating parent" and "father" with "non-gestating parent." It would also change "paternity" to "parentage." Democrats say the measure is an effort to be more "inclusive" of the state's residents with non-traditional "gender identities." It is now awaiting action from Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul . Hempstead Township Supervisor John Ferretti told Fox News Digital the legislation is "woke nonsense." "As a father of two, it was an insult to me and to my wife," Ferretti said in an interview on Tuesday. "As soon as I learned, the first thing I did was bring my wife into our bedroom and say, 'Look what they did up in Albany. They're eliminating the terms mother and father from state law.'" His nine-year-old daughter overheard the conversation and got upset, asking Ferretti: "Can I still call you dad?" BILL REPLACING 'MOTHER' AND 'FATHER' WITH GENDER-NEUTRAL TERMS PASSES IN NEW YORK, HEADS TO HOCHUL'S DESK "It really hit close to home," he continued. "We need to take a stand in the Town of Hempstead, the largest township in America, and make sure that we make it clear not just to residents in the Town of Hempstead, but to residents throughout New York State, that we won't stand for this kind of woke nonsense." While the 2026 legislative session ended last week, Hochul has until the end of the year to sign the bill into law. Hochul told reporters last week that she had not yet reviewed the proposal. "I have until the end of the year to review them and make a decision, so I won't be commenting on pending legislation ," Hochul said during a news conference, according to FOX 5 New York. Ferretti said he hopes Hochul ultimately…