The Town of Hempstead, the largest township in the United States, voted Monday to preserve the words "mother" and "father" in its own legal code, a direct rebuke of a state bill that would replace those terms with gender-neutral language across New York's family law statutes.
The state Legislature passed a bill on June 2, replacing "mother" and "father" with "gestating parent" and "non-gestating parent" throughout New York's family court and child support statutes.