Conservatives claim child custody laws disadvantage men. New York’s fix has them furious

Republican politicians in New York are enraged by bills that would make the state’s child custody laws gender neutral, despite anti-male bias in child custody decisions sparking years of outcry from many conservatives.A bill recently introduced into the New York State Senate would tweak current family court and domestic relations laws, swapping gendered terms like “mother” and“father” for gender-neutral terms like “parent.”Sen. Luis Sepúlveda, a Democrat from The Bronx, introduced New York Senate Bill 9316 after a similar bill created last year never passed the Senate. A connected bill, Assembly Bill A8382A, was introduced by Assemblymember Amy Paulin, a Democrat from Westchester County, and has already passed both of the state’s legislative chambers.Other changes under the Senate bill would challenge presumptions around both the gender and guilt of defendants in child custody cases. That includes switching terms like “paternity” and “filiation” to “parentage,” and the phrase “putative father” to “alleged parent.”Perceived bias against men in child custody decisions has long been a talking point for men’s rights activists and conservative politicians. But how these changes may relate to fairness in child custody cases has been overshadowed by outcry from conservative influencers and New York Republicans who denounce it as an example of “woke” ideology breaking down gender norms and wasting legislative time.“It’s woke culture run amok,” said Gerard Kassar, a former state legislator and chair of the Conservative Party of New York State, according to conservative tabloid the New York Post. “It’s an example of how out of tune the New York legislature is. It’s an unnecessary and wasteful use of time.”The Senate bill also moves toward language more inclusive of LGBTQ+ people, using “gestating parent” instead of mother, removing phrases like “she and her husband,” and using gender-neutral pronouns throughout.