SVP politician wants to stop Genderstern with initiative

The Zurich SVP city parliamentarian Susanne Brunner has a mission: She is a self-proclaimed fighter against the “gender police”. Your commitment is based on an incident in the summer of 2019. At that time, the office of the municipal council rejected an initiative by Brunner on the grounds that it was not formulated in a gender-appropriate manner.

She didn’t let that sit on her: Brunner defended herself legally – and was right. Formal language requirements are not a sufficient legal basis for a rejection, it said.

Now Brunner is going one step further: on Wednesday she is launching a popular initiative with the aim of forbidding the city administration from gendering. Title of the initiative: «Bye gender star!» Specifically, the municipal code – the municipal constitution – should state that the city uses “clear, understandable and legible language” and refrains from using special characters within individual words in its documents.

Ms. Brunner, you fight against gender asterisks, Binnen-I and Glottal stops in the German language. Now you are even launching an initiative to stop gendering in the Zurich city administration. Why this furore?

I have never received as much feedback on any other political issue as I did when I resisted using gender language in political initiatives. Long after that, people would approach me on the street and say thank you for my commitment to the German language. I even received encouragement from Germany and Austria. I have the impression that many people feel powerless against the intrusion of elites into our language. With my initiative, I want to give the population the opportunity to comment on this important issue.

But does it really need an entry in the Zurich Municipal Code?

The mayor of the city, Corine Mauch, has meanwhile made consistent changes, both in writing and verbally, addressing the citizens as “Zürcher*innen”. This does not correspond to German spelling, not to what is taught in schools. Using the gender star leads to grammatically incorrect forms: «doctor», «peasant» . . . This is misleading. There is no “doctor” and no “farmer”. You have to ask yourself: Why does the city government and the administration communicate in a language that does not correspond to the general population?

Your answer to that?

The red-green city government misuses the language as a political tool for a kind of battle between the sexes and also to penetratingly emphasize different gender identities. But the language does not belong to Zurich City Council, it belongs to all of us.

You talk about battles between the sexes. You could also be accused of the same: you are committed to the traditional understanding of gender, now even with a popular initiative.

What is the meaning and purpose of language? People should understand each other. language must be clear. Not long ago, the city tried to make official texts easier to understand with the so-called “easy language”. Now the city council is doing the exact opposite. Gender makes language cumbersome and incomprehensible, especially if you overdo it.

In fact, your initiative wants to ban gender. Ultimately, this is an illiberal attitude.

I see it differently: The initiative frees the city of Zurich from the gender star. It is a reaction to the revision of the regulations on linguistic equality that the city council issued in the summer. This is where our government got lost. The German Spelling Council rejects the gender star. The Federal Chancellery too. It leads to legal uncertainties, which the city even admits itself. According to the municipal regulations, the gender star may not be used in voting texts, in instructions or in submissions to courts. One of the most important tasks of authorities is to communicate in such a way that the population understands them. But if a police report says: “The bank robbers have fled” – do we have to look for men or women now?

Nevertheless, you have always resisted speech dictation. Now prescribe one yourself.

The first language dictation is that of the Zurich city council, which forces all employees of the administration to gender. My initiative is intended to free employees from this compulsion, which is not democratically legitimate.

You yourself consistently use the generic masculine. However, younger people in particular are no longer familiar with this, and women do not feel that they are included when, for example, only “the students” or “the pupils” are mentioned.

The generic masculine is a clean, time-tested solution. It doesn’t exclude anyone: women, men, trans people, everyone is included. It’s clear, it’s simple, it’s the most inclusive of all.

Language has always been changing. The city introduced gendering because it explicitly does not want to exclude anyone with its communication. What’s wrong with it?

Of course, the language changes, and that’s right. We don’t talk the way we did a hundred years ago. But representative polls have shown that gender bothers people. Gender no longer has anything to do with natural change; there is a political agenda behind it. Gender identities are constantly emphasized. In my opinion, this doesn’t unite society, it divides it. In Zurich, the demands go so far that gender-neutral toilets should be built in schools or queer old people’s homes should be planned. In my view, this is going in the completely wrong direction. Instead of inclusion, there is more separation.

But it is also a fact that non-binary people like Kim de l‘Horizon, just awarded the German and the Swiss Book Prize, feel discriminated against by the generic masculine. Shouldn’t we be considerate of the needs of minorities?

Yes, of course. However, I also recommend these groups to study German grammar more closely. Maybe tutoring is needed here.

How would you describe Kim de l‘Address Horizon in a correspondence?

I don’t want to commit myself there, because this question has not been solved either legally or linguistically.

Mentioning both genders is also considered a feminist concern. You are a successful politician and self-employed entrepreneur – actually the prototype of a feminist. In your opinion, has equality been achieved so far that it no longer has to be expressed in language?

Language cannot contribute to equality. Equality can only be achieved through the constitution and laws. In Switzerland we have gender equality, and that’s a good thing. However, there are political forces in Zurich who believe that equality has not been achieved. Then they come up with issues like free tampons in public toilets or menstrual holidays for administrative employees. However, special treatment for women is the opposite of equality. And interestingly, these parties then discriminate against their men and no longer let them take part in elections. I think it’s wrong that big media houses like SRF are taking part in this bogus debate. This is a buckling in the face of the supposedly all-encompassing zeitgeist.

You submit your Gender Star initiative alone and not on behalf of the SVP. On purpose?

A non-partisan committee is behind the initiative, for example with the city parliamentarian Isabel Garcia (GLP), the former governor Hartmuth Attenhofer (SP) or the former CVP councilor Markus Hungerbühler. It is important for me to point out that I not only get encouragement from bourgeois circles, but also from other quarters. My intention was to give the initiative even broader social support. That’s why I asked various entrepreneurs in the city of Zurich. Everyone liked my request, but waved it off because they didn’t want to expose themselves on this topic. This is a warning sign for me.

With your initiative, you are putting yourself at risk in urban, red-green Zurich. The request may be rejected. That would then be a clear referendum for the gender star.

Yes, I would have to accept this result. But I’m sure that my initiative will find open ears and hearts.

“NZZ Live” event: Does Zurich have to become more liberal, social or green? The controversial election debate
On January 26, 2023, the newly appointed government councilors will debate topics relating to the canton of Zurich, moderated by Daniel Fritzsche, head of the Zurich department for the “Neue Zürcher Zeitung”.
January 26, 2023, 7 p.m., Kosmos, Zurich
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