House Democrats’ moves to be gender-inclusive extended to an unusual addition to the closing “amen” of a prayer on the House floor.
Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Democrat, delivered the opening prayer on the first day of the 117th Congress on Sunday that started with a hint of yearning for less political division.
“Eternal God, we bow before your throne of grace as we leave behind the politically and socially clamorous year of 2020,” Cleaver said. “May we model community healing, control our tribal tendencies, and quicken our spirit.”
But at the end, Cleaver injected a political statement.
“Amen, and a-woman,” he said.
The inclusion of “a-woman” came as Democrats are proposing a rule change that replaces the use of words like father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, and more with gender-neutral words. Democrats defended the measure on Sunday amid Republican criticism.
The prayer prompted further criticism from congressional Republicans.
“Amen is Latin for ‘so be it.’ It’s not a gendered word. Unfortunately, facts are irrelevant to progressives. Unbelievable,” tweeted Republican Rep. Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania.
“There is no gender in amen. Totally absurd!” tweeted Arkansas Rep. Rick Crawford.
Tennessee Rep. Tim Burchett added, “This is Political Correctness gone way off the rails.”
Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz sarcastically pointed out that the modification does not align with the gender-neutral aims of other Democratic pushes: “Don’t they know that gender isn’t binary??? What about the other 42 genders??”
