BH prohibits neutral language in schools – 08/19/2023 – Education

A law was published this Saturday (19), in the Official Gazette of the City of Belo Horizonte, prohibiting the use and teaching of the so-called neutral language in public and private schools in the city.

Law No. 11,581 establishes neutral or non-binary language as language that “mischaracterizes, through the morphological alteration of words in oral and written communication, the use of the cultural norms of the Portuguese language and its set of linguistic patterns, with the purpose of not identifying or the non-definition of masculine or feminine gender”.

This feature was created with the intention of including non-binary, gender fluid and transgender people, for example.

Its use gained space in environments such as social networks. In this language, the word “todos” can be replaced by “todos”. Instead of the conventional “ele”, “ela”, “dele” and “dela”, pronouns such as “ile”, “dile”, “elu” and “delu”, among other changes, can be used.

The norm of the capital of Minas Gerais was created from bill nº 54, presented in 2021 by the then councilor Nikolas Ferreira, today federal deputy for the PL (Liberal Party).

“In BH, there are no more Elu and Todes. The Portuguese language will be respected. May my law be an example for all of Brazil”, celebrated the parliamentarian on his Twitter profile.

The law takes effect now and provides for administrative sanctions for public and private educational institutions that violate the determination. The penalties, however, must be defined later, through a decree of the Executive Branch, in charge of Mayor Fuad Noman (PSD).

Neutral language in the STF

Belo Horizonte is not the first place where neutral language is banned in schools.

State law No. 5,123, approved in 2021 in Rondônia, prohibits neutral language in educational institutions and public tender notices in the state, and led to the discussion of the subject in the STF (Federal Supreme Court).

The issue ended up in court after the Contee (National Confederation of Workers in Educational Establishments) filed a Direct Action of Unconstitutionality. For the entity, on the pretext of defending the learning of the Portuguese language in accordance with the cultural norms and legal teaching guidelines, the state law presents prejudices and intolerances incompatible with the democratic order and with human values.

In November 2021, the case’s rapporteur, Minister Edson Fachin, granted an injunction suspending the ban and, in February of this year, the case was judged in plenary.

Unanimously, the court understood that the norm invades the legislative competence of the Union to edit general norms on guidelines and bases of education, including curricula, programmatic contents, teaching methodology or mode of exercise of the teaching activity. With that, the law was annulled.

Mayor vetoes bill

The STF decision was used by the mayor of BH to veto the bill on neutral language.

“The proposition of law incurs in formal unconstitutionality of the organic type by transgressing the exclusive competence of the Union to legislate on guidelines and bases of national education (item XXIV of article 22 of the Federal Constitution), as recently decided by the Federal Supreme Court”, he justified Noman on the veto, published in the Official Gazette of the Municipality on June 8.

At the time, the Executive’s position was celebrated by parliamentarians such as federal deputy Duda Salabert (PDT). “I warned, when I was councilor, that the PL was unconstitutional. I warned, as a teacher, that it is absurd to limit the study of the language by means of the law. But for Nikolas, the sealing is above the Constitution and the importance of studying the language in the country” , he wrote on his social networks.

Weeks later, councilors overturned the veto, and now the law is in effect.