STF forms majority and overturns law that prohibits use of neutral language

neutral language

Judgment concluded yesterday in virtual plenary

The Federal Supreme Court (STF) judged unconstitutional the state law of Rondônia that prohibited the use of neutral language in the teaching material of public and private schools, in the curriculum and in notices of public tenders.

All Court ministers accompanied the rapporteur, Minister Edson Fachin. In his vote, he defended the thesis that the state norm cannot define educational guidelines, as it is a private competence of the Union. “Fixation of thesis: state norm that, under the pretext of protecting students, prohibits the use of the Portuguese language violates the legislative competence of the Union”.

In November 2021, Fachin suspended the law and sent the case for judgment by the other ministers. At the time, the rapporteur argued that prohibiting its use confronts the freedom of expression guaranteed by the Constitution, in the case of prior censorship, which is prohibited in the country.

The Attorney General’s Office (PGR) and the Federal Attorney General’s Office (AGU) also declared that the state law was unconstitutional.

The action was proposed by the National Confederation of Workers in Teaching Establishments. The trial, which began on February 3, was held in a virtual plenary, when ministers do not explain, they only inform the vote, and ended at 11:59 pm yesterday (10).

Caveats

The votes of ministers Nunes Marques and André Mendonça were accompanied by reservations.

Nunes Marques recognized that the state norm is unconstitutional for having invaded an activity under the responsibility of the Union, but claimed that the language is a living system and that transformations should not be dictated by norms, rules or agreements.

André Mendonça, on the other hand, defended that the basis of the Court’s decision be restricted to “state or municipal norms that provide for the Portuguese language violate the legislative competence of the Union”.

neutral language

Neutral language, or non-binary language, proposes the use of neutral articles “e”, “x” or “@”, replacing the feminine and masculine articles “a” and “o”.

In the language, the words “todas” or “todos” are spelled, for example, as “todes”, to avoid the use of gender markers.

The pronoun “elu” can also be used to refer to people regardless of the gender they identify with.

* With information from Agência Brasil

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