An attempt to update the Ocala City Charter with non-gender-specific language failed under a barrage of public opposition Tuesday night.
The changes were seen as "a slippery slope" tied to unisex bathrooms and transgender kids.
The charter has words like "policeman" instead of "police officer" and "he" for the city manager -- even though a woman has the job.
The council considered a referendum to modernize the language but dropped it after more than 30 conservatives cried foul.
Summerfield pastor Gerald Bustin was the first.
"It seems to me we're catering to the LGBT community and not to God," he said.
Local Republican leader Michael Saxe suggested "policeman" and "police woman" to avoid the "gender neutral" language.
"Anytime you say that word," Saxe said, "that's a buzzword that everybody's going to start, especially conservatives, pastors, everybody else, like, Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing here?"
Sara Clifton backed the measure and made a request to council members: "[T]hat you make an effort to combat the misinformation and the sheer propaganda that has surrounded such a simple issue."
