By Stephen Peter
Governing Mayor Kai Wegner (50, CDU) does not want to sign a document in gender language. Now Transport Senator Manja Schreiner (45, CDU) forbids all employees of her authority to use gender – at least that’s what an SPD politician claims.
“Today in my mailbox: A message that the Senate Department for Mobility, Transport, Climate Protection and the Environment has forbidden all of its employees to use gender-appropriate language in their external communication,” tweeted MP Mathias Schulz (37, SPD) on Wednesday evening. He accuses Schreiner of a “culture war”. However, Schulz cannot provide any evidence for the supposed gender ban. He describes himself as an advocate of an “inclusive language”. The politician to the BZ: “I think general guidelines are wrong.”
Green politician Antje Kapek (46) immediately spoke up: “Authoritarian gender ban decree instead of the promised new togetherness?” And further: “Manja Schreiner explains what Kai Wegner announced last week. The promised policy of diversity has already been taken ad absurdum.”
The governor had said in an interview with the BZ: “I have not yet signed a letter in gender language. It is important to me that the language used by the administration is understandable. Anyone can speak privately as they wish. But I would like to speak the German that I learned at school and that everyone understands”. Green party leader Bettina Jarasch (54) then accused him of playing “language police”.
The traffic administration has not yet responded to a request from BZ. Bahar Haghanipour (39, Greens), Vice-President of the House of Representatives, tweeted outraged: “Not 100 days in office and the CDU men’s party makes women invisible.”
At least in a press release from the traffic administration on May 26, gender was still used – it mentioned several times “students” instead of students. A few days earlier, in the announcement of the reopening of Friedrichstrasse for traffic, the word “residents” was used – but Schreiner himself was quoted as “residents”.
FDP politician Stefan Förster (42) does not understand the excitement about the alleged gender ban in the traffic administration: “Presumably they should only comply with the official German spelling, as one can expect from officials. Special characters in words that were previously forced on employees were the problem.”
