Stage dispute in Zwickau: Gender ban causes heated debates!

Stage dispute in Zwickau: Gender ban causes heated debates!

The director of the Theater Plauen-Zwickau, Dirk Löschner, is currently making a passionate plea for the freedom of art. Amid a troubling gender ban introduced at the board's insistence, he emphasizes the importance of artistic expression and debate. The ban, which prohibits city employees and companies from using genders using underscores, gender stars and colons, was primarily initiated by the AfD and found support from Free Voters, the CDU and the FDP. Despite this restriction, the theater remains true to its line in dealing with gender: the gender colon is used in the new season booklet, as freipresse.de reports.

Löschner, who has been general director of the theater since August 2022, has already made clear statements about the gender ban. He sees it as an attempt to end a social debate and denies that the theater is under pressure to comply. What is particularly interesting is that the theater has changed its publications since 2019 and this has hardly been noticed. Löschner explains that there are no heated internal discussions about gender in the theater; quite the opposite: the artistic ensembles are quite positive about the topic.

The reaction to the gender ban

The debut production “Katerina in Boots” this Saturday sheds a critical light on gender roles and in this context is also seen as a response to the current ban. The artists apparently perceived the previous freedom for gender not just as a routine, but as an important opportunity for thematic discussion. “Precisely because there is no gender on stage, we saw opportunities in the ‘Theater Sports’ format to introduce humorous gender discussions,” said Löschner. Special mention goes to the three open-air performances in Plauen, where despite 3,000 spectators there was no interest in the gender debate, which gives the impression that the audience has other topics on their minds.

“The freedom of art is a valuable asset,” emphasizes Löschner, while at the same time acknowledging that the theater is not yet directly affected by the decision, as instructions from the mayor are required. These could open or close both doors and gates to the theater based on their financial ties. But Löschner remains optimistic and sees the theater not as a moral institution, but as a place that wants to initiate socially relevant debates.

Cultural and social context

In the background is a broader social debate about gender and language that has been going on for around 40 years. Scientists such as Prof. Helmut Weiß and Prof. Eckhard Meineke have commented critically on this development. The latter emphasizes that many terms, such as masculine gender, were chosen carelessly. The far-reaching changes in grammar caused by the gender movement are also viewed by many as ideologically significant. Tim Schröder, science journalist, notes that many lecturers shy away from using gender in their speech, which shows how divided the discussion is even among experts, as documented at mdr.de.

At a time when art and socio-political issues are inextricably intertwined, it remains to be seen how the disputes over the gender ban will develop and whether the Plauen-Zwickau Theater can continue to offer a platform for open dialogue.