Status: 16.01.2024, 13:17 PM
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The word "visitor" is marked with the addition ":innen" on a sign in the city center. © Marijan Murat/dpa
The referendum of the gender opponents failed due to formalities, but the initiators do not want to be satisfied with this. They go to court - and get support from politicians.
Stuttgart - After the rejection of their referendum, the gender opponents continue to fight on various fronts against internal I and gender asterisks at schools and authorities in the southwest. The initiative filed a complaint with the Constitutional Court on Tuesday. The Ministry of the Interior had previously declared the application inadmissible on formal grounds. The CDU parliamentary group also invited the Heidelberg initiator Klaus Hekking to an exchange on Tuesday afternoon. The MEPs wanted to make it clear to the supporters of the referendum at the meeting that they were pulling in the same direction in terms of content, the parliamentary group said. Ways should be sought as to how the collected signatures can still be enforced.
Subsequently, the results of the consultations were to be presented together with Interior Minister Thomas Strobl (CDU). Will gender language be banned in public authorities after all? The Greens and CDU are anything but in agreement on the issue.
Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann, himself no friend of gender language, sees no need for regulation with regard to gender language in public authorities. "For the state government, it's quite simple: In official documents, we stick to the spelling rules," the Green politician said on Tuesday in Stuttgart. After all, spelling mistakes are also spelling mistakes at school. The state must also adhere to what it sanctions. He is not a fan of raising such "cultural debates", said Kretschmann. People must have the impression that politics solves the problems in such times of crisis.
The initiators of the referendum had submitted more than 14,000 signatures to the ministry. The bill states that the state government and its subordinate authorities, as well as all other institutions in the state, should refrain from requiring the use of gender-neutral changes and additions. In addition, examinations at universities and schools, for example, should not be graded or assessed worse because there was no gender.
It is largely unclear to what extent gender language is really used in everyday life in public authorities, schools and universities. Examples are hard to find. Science Minister Petra Olschowski (Greens) emphasized on Tuesday that she did not know of any university that had decided this for itself. There is also no indication at all that the topic is relevant in examination procedures. So it's a sham debate?
According to the Baden-Württemberg Association of Municipalities, there is no overview of the use of gender-sensitive language in official documents or the communication of cities and municipalities. "From our point of view, there are currently many more important issues at the municipal level than the question of gendering language," said spokesman Christopher Heck. "It is clear that municipalities are well aware that respectful interaction is also expressed through language."
According to the Association of Cities, there are very different variants in the larger cities. "There are things ranging from: We don't do anything, we don't change anything, to a form of graphic element that expresses more than citizens," said spokeswoman Christiane Conzen. In any case, it is an issue for the administrations. In some cases, the municipal councils are involved in the decisions, in others the administrations decide themselves.
For years, there has been a discussion in Germany as to whether - and if so, how - masculine forms in the language can or should be replaced by broader terms - for example, in order to involve women more offensively. The gender asterisk as in "teachers" is one possibility.
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The Council for Spelling is of the opinion that all people should be treated with gender-neutral language. At its last meeting in the summer, however, the panel of experts did not classify gender symbols as a core element of German spelling. Dpa