No text says that inclusive writing contravenes the French language, administrative justice ruled on Tuesday by rejecting the appeal of an association which demanded the removal of two commemorative plaques from the Paris City Hall.
“
Inclusive writing does not disregard the law of August 4, 1994 relating to the use
of the French language” nor “
any other text or principle
”, estimated the administrative court of Paris.
"Not French"
At the end of 2021, the Francophonie Avenir association had asked, in vain, the PS mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo to remove two plaques affixed in a corridor of the Hôtel de ville, at the entrance to the hemicycle of the Council of Paris, and engraved in inclusive writing.
Aiming for equal representations between women and men, inclusive writing consists of showing the masculine and feminine forms of a word around a midpoint.
The plates in question list “
the presidents of the Council of Paris
” and “
the advisers of Paris having completed more than 25 years of mandate
”.
This spelling "
is not French
", deplored the association which, in addition to the withdrawal of the plates, asked the mayor of Paris "
to no longer use - or to have used - this type of writing in space public
”.
Read alsoDo we have the right to impose inclusive writing in higher education?
The LR and related group had also protested against these plaques, accusing the majority on the left of "
rewriting history by engraving its ideology in the marble of the Town Hall
".
In May 2021, the Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer had banned the use of inclusive writing via a circular, explaining that its “
complexity
” and its “
instability
” constituted “
obstacles to the acquisition of the language like reading
.
But "
the circumstances
" of this decision, such as the letter at the same time from the French Academy also opposing the use of inclusive writing,
“, ruled the court.