It is not easy to keep track of what should and may be written where and how. We strive for a kind of German „Gender Atlas“, This list does not claim to be exhaustive and may be amended at any time by new resolutions in one or more federal states. Language is always changing.
An overview of the gender rules in the federal states
Baden-Württemberg: The cabinet has clarified in a resolution that the state administration must adhere to the official rules of German spelling and the recommendations of the Council for German Spelling in formal correspondence, as announced by Minister President Winfried Kretschmann (Green Party). The initiative for a referendum against mandatory gender-neutral language in schools and public authorities was stopped by the Ministry of the Interior. The application was deemed inadmissible on both formal and substantive grounds.
Bavaria: In Bavaria, a ban on gender-sensitive language using gender asterisks, colons or other symbols will apply in state schools and public authorities from 1 April 2024. Teachers who continue to use gender asterisks in letters to parents, for example, will soon face „disciplinary consequences“.
Berlin: The Berlin Senate does not plan to ban gender-sensitive language in public authorities, schools and universities, as Bavaria has done. Instead, each Senate department is free to decide which linguistic variants are used in documents or correspondence within its area of responsibility. In other words, total chaos.
Brandenburg: Gender asterisks, underscores or colons as variants of gender-neutral language are to be banned in all public authorities and educational institutions in Brandenburg in future and classified as spelling mistakes in schools.
Bremen: Permission to use the colon in a school context and in external communications by public authorities. However, the Bremerhaven municipal authorities no longer deliberate on proposals in which gender stars are used.
Hamburg: The situation is inconsistent, as there are no guidelines or prohibitions in this area. The Hamburg citizens' initiative against gender-neutral language recently submitted more than 16,000 signatures to the town hall. It demands that gender-neutral language not be used in public authorities, universities and schools.
Hesse: Following Bavaria, the government of Hesse has also declared war on gender-neutral language. The use of special characters to indicate gender will be prohibited not only in school-leaving examinations, but also in administration. According to a statement issued by the State Chancellery in response to an enquiry from the German Press Agency, „abbreviated forms with special characters such as the gender star, colon and internal I“ will no longer be permitted.
Lower Saxony: „Stop gender mainstreaming in Lower Saxony“ citizens' initiative. According to the state returning officer, the initiative needs to collect more than 70,000 signatures by March 2025. The state parliament will then have to decide whether to discuss the issue – and implement the demands.
Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania: The citizens of the Hanseatic city of Stralsund have decided that municipal institutions and businesses may not use underscores, colons or asterisks when describing genders. The motion was tabled by the AfD parliamentary group. There is not yet a uniform regulation in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
North Rhine-Westphalia: When asked, reference is made to the decision of the Conference of Ministers of Education, according to which schools are bound by the official rules issued by the Council for German Spelling. After a recent review on 16 December 2023, the Council „did not recommend including special characters to indicate gender identities within words in the official rules.“
Rhineland-Palatinate: There is no explicit gender ban for schools and administration. Pupils should adhere to the applicable spelling rules in school lessons. According to this, gendering is probably not permitted. However, the official language must be gender-neutral; it must make the equal treatment of women and men visible. Conclusion: A clear case of „being a little bit pregnant“ in Rhineland-Palatinate.
Saarland: Permission to use the colon in schools and government agencies. The Ministry of Education in Saarland emphasised that it supports „gender-sensitive behaviour, which includes gender-neutral language“.
Saxony: Gender ban similar to that in Bavaria. The federal state considers special characters, such as the gender star, to be errors in essays. Saxony's Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs already decided in 2021 that gendering would not be used in schools and school supervisory authorities. Now the ministry has reinforced its instruction with a decree.
Saxony-Anhalt: Ban similar to that in Bavaria. The Ministry of Education has confirmed that gendering with special characters will be prohibited in schools in future. According to the information provided, the ban applies to all constructions with colons, asterisks („gender stars“) and underscores („gender gaps“) as well as other forms used to indicate multi-gender designations within words. Forms such as „baker*“, „teacher:in“ and „athlete_in“ may therefore not be used and will be considered violations of the norm.
Schleswig-Holstein: Gender symbols may be considered errors in schoolwork. Use pupils If you use a special character, it will be marked as an error at school.
Thuringia: Thuringia's state authorities are to refrain from using certain forms of gender-neutral language in their public communications in future. They are required to refrain from using „grammatically incorrect gender-neutral language“, according to a decision by the Thuringian state parliament, which was passed against the votes of the red-red-green minority coalition. In future, the authorities should exclusively follow the recommendations of the Council for German Orthography.
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This list shows the stylistic bloopers that ideologically driven gender politics has already produced in our country. German is one of the most wonderful and expressive languages in the world. Gender gaga means that written texts are hardly readable or comprehensible anymore. Imagine a pupil moving within Germany with their parents from one gender-friendly state to another where gender-neutral language is considered a mistake in essays and class tests. The pupils would practically have to learn a new language. Or try reading your offspring the fairy tale „The Frog Prince:in“ before bedtime. Or „Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs:in“. Do you think your child will sleep well?
In several federal states, there are now citizens' initiatives with the aim of ending gender ideology in schools and administration. Once this has been achieved, perhaps those responsible for the media will also realise that they have gone too far with gender ideology. The first daily newspapers have already abolished gender-neutral language because their subscribers have cancelled their subscriptions in droves.
Perhaps the majority of the German people want to preserve one of their most valuable cultural assets, the German language, just as it is? Have the gender gaga creators ever thought about this?
Further sources:
https://www.swr.de/swraktuell/baden-wuerttemberg/gendern-verbot-landesregierung-100.html
