Guidelines adapted

The internal I is banned from the Chancellery

In future, only masculine and feminine forms or neutral wording.(Bild: ROLAND SCHLAGER)

Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP) is taking an announcement by Federal Chancellor Karl Nehammer seriously. Following a corresponding adaptation of the communication guidelines, the internal I will now be removed from the Federal Chancellery. The FPÖ, meanwhile, is outraged by a "forcibly gendered" parliamentary dispatch.

Dear reader, reader, Leser:in, Leser_in - this is not very legible and will therefore be banned from the Chancellery. The Federal Chancellery Minister Susanne Raab (ÖVP) has adapted the Federal Chancellery's communication guidelines accordingly.

She is referring to the German Spelling Council, which recommends the use of gender-neutral formulations and the couple form. With this step, the ÖVP is using the topic it has discovered for the election campaign. However, it is not alone in this; the FPÖ has also taken up the fight against gendering.

FPÖ identifies "disfigurement"
It is currently outraged by the "forced gendering" by parliamentary correspondence. In the title of a press release, the FPÖ wrote: "FPÖ criticizes transport policy of the federal government, at the expense of commuters."

This is not only a "defacement" of the language, but also contradicts all citation rules. According to Christoph Steiner, leader of the Freedom Party parliamentary group, it is not permitted to change direct quotations afterwards.

The ÖVP and FPÖ are in line with the majority. A full 80 percent of Austrians think that gendering is exaggerated. Over 60 percent are against mandatory rules for "gender-equitable" language.