Jan 19, 2022
Guidelines for gender-inclusive communication
The goal of gender-inclusive, non-discriminatory language is to address all individuals in a respectful manner with equal value and to ensure their visibility. This involves going beyond simply mentioning men and women to specifically address trans*, inter, and non-binary people as well. However people refer to themselves – from their name to salutations to pronouns – should be respected and observed.
In December 2021, Prof. Ulrike Lembke (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin) issued a legal opinion on gender-neutral language in official settings on behalf of the City of Hannover. Her legal expertise provides an assessment of the validity of gender-inclusive formulations and punctuation in administrative and official communication.
Prof. Lembke concludes in her report that the use of gender-neutral language, including the common use of an asterisk in German, cannot unfurl any (negative) impact on the effectiveness or binding force of administrative action; on the contrary, this behavior increases its constitutionality.
You can find the full report in German here: https://www.hannover.de/Service/Presse-Medien/Landeshauptstadt-Hannover/Aktuelle-Meldungen-und-Veranstaltungen/Gutachten-bestätigt-Genderstar-verwirklicht-Verfassungsauftrag
A summary (in German) of the most significant findings can be found here: https://www.rewi.hu-berlin.de/de/lf/ls/lbk/gutachten-genderstar-amtssprache_ergebnisse_lembke2021.pdf