As of: March 6, 2024, 5:47 p.m
By: Felix Gattinger
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Is gender now also becoming a crucial question for the authorities?
(Symbolic image) © Marijan Murat/dpa
Gender asterisk, gap and internal I: The question of whether and how authorities should gender was also on the minds of the city councilors in the Kaufbeuren administrative committee last night.
It was at times subtle, witty and amusing.
Kaufbeuren
- employees, employees, employees - with his request to the city administration to allow gendering in official correspondence, both internally and externally, and thus to adhere to the Council for German Spelling, is CSU city councilor Dr.
Thomas Jahn failed at the last administrative committee meeting precisely because he was running into open doors on this issue.
“We had already discussed the question in detail in September 2022 and decided on it by mutual consent,” explained Kaufbeuren’s mayor Stefan Bosse (CSU).
The whole thing was then communicated to their “employees” via the respective “heads of department”.
And that is enough.
Gender debate: Kaufbeuren city councilors think about gender – clarity required
Dr.
Jahn, on the other hand, stated that he nevertheless remembered draft resolutions in which “gendering” was nevertheless carried out.
Specifically, however, he only referred to a template from the school administration, the template of which had in turn been formulated by the school authority.
According to the lawyer Jahn, gender language not only disrupts reading, but also lacks clarity.
'Cyclists' instead of 'cyclists' is unclear in the official language, as the former do not cycle all the time.
At this point, Peter Kempf (FW) interjected that the gender-neutral participle was not on the Spelling Council's negative list, but rather politically motivated special characters, such as the asterisk or the gender gap.
Bosse, on the other hand, vowed to stick to the term 'head of department' because he was convinced that his heads of department were also heads of department, even if they slept soundly at night.
Bosse continued, you can of course continue to talk as you see fit, but you will criticize special political symbols.
Gender debate: Kaufbeuren city councilors think about gender - against a rigid interpretation
Mayor Oliver Schill, on the other hand, advocated a certain level of language tolerance, especially with regard to younger organizations and committees, such as the City Youth Council.
The younger generation must also have the opportunity to differentiate themselves from the established committees in their expression.