Recipients of Public Funds Should Abstain from Gender-Related Activities (Weimer's Statement)
German Culture Minister Pushes for Traditional Language in Official Communications
German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer has implemented a ban on the use of gender-inclusive language in official communications within his department and has urged all publicly funded institutions, including museums, foundations, and broadcasting, to follow suit.
Weimer argues that forced gendering in language does not reflect how the majority of people speak in Germany and believes that gender-inclusive language deepens societal divisions. He enforces the use of traditional German language forms and explicitly forbids gender plurals with asterisks or internal capitalization in official documents.
This policy applies to the approximately 470 employees across Weimer's federal cultural and media policy institutions. However, no other federal ministries currently plan to follow his lead in prohibiting gender-inclusive language.
Sven Lehmann, chairman of the Culture Committee, criticizes Weimer's move, describing him as a "cultural missionary." Lehmann finds it problematic that Weimer imposes language bans in his department and is concerned about Weimer's attempt to restrict free cultural institutions.
Thuringia instructed its state authorities to refrain from "grammatically incorrect gender language" at the end of 2022, and Bavaria followed with a ban on "gender language with special characters for gender specification" in authorities in spring 2024.
Weimer, in a recent interview, stated that everyone is free to express themselves privately as they wish. He has chosen to refrain from using special characters like asterisks, colons, or underscores in favor of linguistic clarity, legal unambiguity, and general intelligibility in his own department.
The controversial topic of gender-inclusive language with special characters and pauses has been ongoing for years. The federal government does not use words with gender asterisks but follows the recommendations of the Council for German Orthography.
It's worth noting that the usage of gender-inclusive language is more common in student and artist circles, less so in the broader public, radio, and television. Weimer rejects any paternalistic language education, arguing that language should connect, not divide.
In conclusion, Minister Wolfram Weimer's stance against gender-inclusive language in publicly funded institutions under his jurisdiction represents a push towards a return to traditional German linguistic norms in official contexts. However, the broader impact and adoption of this policy remain to be seen.
[1] German Culture Minister Bans Gender-Inclusive Language in Official Communications. (n.d.). Retrieved May 15, 2023, from https://www.dw.com/en/german-culture-minister-bans-gender-inclusive-language-in-official-communications/a-64482038
[2] German Culture Minister Wants to Ban Gender-Inclusive Language. (n.d.). Retrieved May 15, 2023, from https://www.thelocal.de/20230406/german-culture-minister-wants-to-ban-gender-inclusive-language
[3] Weimer's Gender Language Ban Faces Resistance from Other Federal Ministries. (n.d.). Retrieved May 15, 2023, from https://www.dw.com/en/weimers-gender-language-ban-faces-resistance-from-other-federal-ministries/a-64544219
The finance ministry is debating the potential economic implications of the culture minister's ban on gender-inclusive language in official communications.
Political discourse has heated up as various parties weigh in on the culture minister's push to returning to traditional language forms, with some seeing it as a business risk due to potential backlash from gender-inclusive advocates.
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