This city council is changing its paperwork to make it more gender inclusive

LONDON — A UK city council has made one simple change to its forms and one significant leap in the direction of gender inclusivity. 

The Oxford City Council is adding the gender inclusive option Mx to all its official forms alongside Miss, Ms, Mrs and Mr. 

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The decision, made following a recommendation by the council's executive board, forms part of the council's "ongoing work to be as inclusive as possible", according to a council report. 

“The council’s workforce has been changing to look more like the diverse communities that it serves. Good policies have helped to bring this about and tackle discrimination but further improvements are possible," said Councillor Tom Hayes, the vice-chair of the group's Scrutiny Committee, said in a statement. 

Hayes also noted that the council is taking steps to build a workplace that's "friendlier" to transgender, gender non-conforming and non-binary employees and that gathering personal information is "central" to that. 

Oxford City Council isn't alone in taking steps to make its forms more inclusive. Brighton & Hove City Council sent a letter to thousands of parents in April this year asking them to support the gender their children "most identify with" when confirming school places. 

The letter asked that parents help their children complete a form and to leave the gender section of the form blank if their child is non-binary. 

UK politicians have also called for gender options to be removed from passports and drivers' licenses in an effort to "strip back" talking about gender unless essential. 

People have taken to Twitter to praise the Oxford City Council for the move.

"Great to see councils doing this," wrote one Twitter user.