‘It may be small. It’s about two words. But it’s huge in terms of one of our major national symbols, the anthem we sing with pride about our country’
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The Senate has changed two words in the national anthem to make it gender-neutral, but some believe an earlier version of ‘O, Canada’ was already so.
The Senate voted to change the end of the lyric “True patriot love in all of thy sons’ command” to “in all of us command”.
But in the first version by Robert Stanley, officially adopted in 1908, the second line read “True patriot love, thou dost in us command.”
It is not clear when that lyric was changed to “in all thy sons command,” according to Global News Canada.
Complaints about the gender exclusivity of the statement began surfacing as early as the 1950s.
The bill sponsor, Senator Frances Lankin said that while there were only two words that were changed, the move holds great symbolic value, Global News Canada reported.
“It may be small. It’s about two words. But it’s huge in terms of one of our major national symbols, the anthem we sing with pride about our country. And we can now sing it with pride knowing the rules will support us, the law will support us in terms of the language, and we will sing — all of us,” she told reporters.
The Canadian national anthem had gone through several revisions. In the late 19th century, Quebecers created the first version, an alternative to “God Save the Queen,” the New York Times reported.
After 20 years, the music was adopted by English-speaking Canadians and played to the lyrics of a poem by Adolphe-Basile Routhier.
In the Canadian government’s website, Robert Stanley and Adophe-Basil Routhier and composer Calixa Lavallée are credited on the Canadian government’s website as “the people behind the anthem”.
The change has been in the works since 1980, when several groups began pressuring officials to make the lyrics gender-neutral. Several bills were drafted between then and now, but each one failed to pass.
The Senate voted to change the end of the lyric “True patriot love in all of thy sons’ command” to “in all of us command”.
But in the first version by Robert Stanley, officially adopted in 1908, the second line read “True patriot love, thou dost in us command.”
It is not clear when that lyric was changed to “in all thy sons command,” according to Global News Canada.
Complaints about the gender exclusivity of the statement began surfacing as early as the 1950s.
The bill sponsor, Senator Frances Lankin said that while there were only two words that were changed, the move holds great symbolic value, Global News Canada reported.
“It may be small. It’s about two words. But it’s huge in terms of one of our major national symbols, the anthem we sing with pride about our country. And we can now sing it with pride knowing the rules will support us, the law will support us in terms of the language, and we will sing — all of us,” she told reporters.
The Canadian national anthem had gone through several revisions. In the late 19th century, Quebecers created the first version, an alternative to “God Save the Queen,” the New York Times reported.
After 20 years, the music was adopted by English-speaking Canadians and played to the lyrics of a poem by Adolphe-Basile Routhier.
In the Canadian government’s website, Robert Stanley and Adophe-Basil Routhier and composer Calixa Lavallée are credited on the Canadian government’s website as “the people behind the anthem”.
The change has been in the works since 1980, when several groups began pressuring officials to make the lyrics gender-neutral. Several bills were drafted between then and now, but each one failed to pass.