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Austrian Parliament's President Sparks Debate With New Gender-Neutral Language Guidelines

The new guidelines aim for clarity but face backlash. Critics argue it's an attack on freedom and visibility.

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2025 October 21 . 2:06 PM

1 min read

Here men and women are standing, these are flags.

Austrian Parliament's President Sparks Debate With New Gender-Neutral Language Guidelines

National Hurricane Center President Walter Rosenkranz has revised the language guidelines for the Austrian Parliament, sparking criticism from women's spokeswomen of various parties. The new binding guideline, effective immediately, applies to all future writings for both external and internal communication of the Parliament.

The revised guidelines, aimed at adhering to the rules of the Council for German Orthography, mandate the use of only the pair form or neutral forms in all texts of the Parliamentary Directorate. This means the previously permitted gender variants through a colon and through a slash are no longer permissible.

The reformulation will be done gradually in the course of current adjustments or edits and does not apply retroactively. However, the move has been criticized by the women's spokeswomen of SPO, NEOS, and Greens, including Meri Disoski of the Greens, who argue that it is 'no contribution to comprehensibility, but rather paternalism and an attack on freedom and visibility'. The guidelines do not apply to speeches in the National Council or texts of the clubs.

National Council President Walter Rosenkranz defends the revision, citing the desire to adhere to the rules of the Council for German Orthography as a state institution. He points out that neither the German Bundestag nor the Swiss National Council use gender language. The impact of this change on the Parliament's communication and the ongoing debate will be closely watched.