Press release of 11, August 2025
Well done, Mr. Minister! But gender-inclusive language alone is not enough
Following the ban on gender-neutral language in communications from his agency, Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media Wolfram Weimer has recommended that institutions working with public funds – »from museums and foundations to broadcasters« – also refrain from using gender-neutral language. »Anyone speaking in an official capacity should choose language that is understandable and widely accepted by everyone«, he told the news agency dpa. He rejects »any patronising language education«; in private, everyone »is free to express themselves as they wish«.
PEN Berlin welcomes the fact that the Federal Commissioner has had the courage to address the issue of language education, thus staking a claim to a role in cultural policy that has been vacant since Kurt Hager’s departure in autumn 1989. At the same time, however, PEN Berlin recommends that attention should not be focused solely on language that is incomprehensible, broad, or hostile to the public. PEN Berlin expects Mr Weimer to follow through on this idea and take a closer look at the content presented in museums and theatres. After all, anyone staging or exhibiting on behalf of the public should choose an art form that is comprehensible and widely accepted by all. Privately, everyone remains free to stage or exhibit whatever they wish.
»The best and, in my opinion, the only convincing argument for gender-neutral language has always seemed to me to be the gasping for breath it triggers in its opponents«, said PEN Berlin spokesperson Deniz Yücel. »Rarely has this argument been so brilliantly confirmed as now by the Minister of State for Culture.«
PEN Berlin will continue to use gender-neutral language in its public communications because we too naturally reject any kind of patronising language education. So, no offence, Minister. But just because your neighbour is redecorating his flat with new wallpaper, it doesn’t mean you feel obliged to redecorate yours, does it?
PEN Berlin. We stand by our word.