Anne K. Batten (born 1932) is a Vermont politician who was a member of the legislature of Vermont from 1981 to 1988. She also served on the Commission on Women in the State of Vermont in the 1980s. She was a representative of the

Hardwick, Vermont Hardwick is a town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic charac ...

area.

Early life and education

Batten was born on July 24, 1932, in

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. She attended Turners Falls High School in

Turners Falls, Massachusetts Turners Falls is an unincorporated village and census-designated place in the town of Montague in Franklin County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 4,512 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Springfield, Massachusetts Metropo ...

Career

Batten was instrumental in proposing legislation that would require the Vermont House to write all its legislation in

gender-neutral Gender neutrality (adjective form: gender-neutral), also known as gender-neutralism or the gender neutrality movement, is the idea that policies, Gender-neutral language, language, and other social institutions (social structures or gender roles) ...

terms. Batten's belief is that language shapes people and that what you see on a page is sublimely absorbed, and she wants future generations of women, young women, to lead legislation and not see male pronouns throughout all the legislation. The legislation passed the House and

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, and the drafting of bills began to be written in gender-neutral terms. During her tenure in the Vermont House Legislature, Batten voted for bills related to Act 250, Vermont's developmental and control law, established in 1970, that provides a public, quasi-judicial process for reviewing and managing the environmental, social and fiscal consequences of major subdivisions and development in Vermont through the issuance of land use permits. Batten also sponsored a bill for a merger of the town and village of Hardwick. She also sponsored a bill for the protection of the elderly and disabled adults from abuse.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Batten, Anne K. Members of the Vermont House of Representatives 1932 births Living people Women state legislators in Vermont People from Hardwick, Vermont People from Long Island 20th-century American women politicians 20th-century members of the Vermont General Assembly