Women's and Equal Opportunities Officers

Against language censorship at Hessian universities

Statement by the State Conference of Hessian University Women's and Equal Opportunities Officers (LaKoF) on the key issues paper of the Hesse coalition of CDU and SPD

The LaKoF Hessen firmly rejects the planned language censorship at Hessian universities. Such a ban on gender-equitable language contradicts the provisions of the Hessian Higher Education Act on equality and anti-discrimination, it interferes with the freedom of science and art and runs diametrically opposed to a social development towards an appreciative approach to diversity. We call on the coalition to advance equality work at universities through constructive measures instead of thwarting it through bans and language censorship.

Federal (Basic Law, General Equal Treatment Act, Personal Status Act) and state (Hessian Equal Rights Act and Higher Education Act) laws stipulate that working and study conditions must be free of discrimination and that gender equality must also be observed in language. Since 2019, the Personal Status Act has recognized several gender identities, which must be taken into account in gender equality work - and accordingly also in language.

Universities are places of learning, teaching, research and work and places where social developments are reflected upon. The examination of language in the context of inequality and the search for forms of expression that are sensitive to discrimination are an integral part of the active discourse at universities and an indispensable element of equality goals. This debate cannot be regulated by bans.
Universities are doing successful work in the areas of gender equality, diversity and anti-discrimination. The universities expect the state government to pursue a serious policy that supports them in their mission, which does not rely on populist measures and consequently also refrains from the planned language censorship.

Signed by

Dr. Sylke Ernst, Women's and Equal Opportunities Officer, University of Kassel

Dr. Margit Göttert, Women's and Equal Opportunities Officer, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences

We, Hessian academics, university staff and gender research centers, are irritated by the plan noted in the key issues paper of the future Hessian government coalition to impose a general ban on "gendering with special characters" in public institutions. The ban on inclusive language at universities represents, among other things, a massive encroachment on academic freedom and will not be feasible for legal reasons alone. We expect the future coalition partners to refrain from such populist proposals, to delete the passage and to stand up for a legally compliant policy and a democratic, inclusive science and society.