The Canadian Senate passed a bill that changed the quote from the national anthem, titled “O Canada”, to respect gender neutrality in the lyrics of the song.

The change occurs in the second line of the English version of the hymn, originally written in French, which reads: “True patriot love in all your son command”, in the original version).

The bill provides for the replacement of the words “your children” (“your children”) with “all of us” (“all of us”). This is because, in English, the term “boy” refers only to boys.

The amendment was proposed in 2016 by Deputy Mauril Bélanger, of the Liberal Party of Canada, who died later that year. The issue passed through the House of Commons and, after facing resistance from conservatives, was finally approved in the Senate this Wednesday (31).

To take effect, the act still needs approval from the Governor-General of Canada, Julie Payette, who officially represents the British monarchy in Canada.

The English lyrics for “O Canada” were written in 1908 by Robert Stanley Weir. The song became Canada’s national anthem in 1980, and since then, 12 bills have been introduced with the intention of changing the mention of “son” in the lyrics. The French version doesn’t have the same expression.

The idea began to gain traction in 2013, with a campaign spearheaded by a number of influential Canadian women, including author Margaret Atwood and former prime minister Kim Campbell.

“Restoring the lyrics so that they respect gender neutrality is not only a solution to making our national anthem include all Canadians, but also [deve ser feito] also for backtracking,” Atwood said at the time. This Thursday, he celebrated the Senate’s approval in a message on Twitter.