Munich: SPD city councilor Roland Hefter sings a satirical song about gender – Munich

He even dances there now, on the stone edge of the basin of the fish fountain directly in front of the town hall, and sings his contribution to gender politics. From the “pediatric nurse” and the “chief secretary”. Then, already hopping down from the edge of the pool, further from “uncles” and “aunts”, and yes, that is also part of the truth, from “sperm donors”. So far, Roland Hefter hasn’t attracted much attention as a dancer, nor as a language nerd, he has his audience as a Bavarian songwriter, and his latest song including video should find a few new listeners, at least in the town hall.

For almost three years, Hefter has also been a city councillor, a member of the SPD parliamentary group and thus also a member of the green-red coalition. According to her contract, she wants to “make gender-appropriate language the standard in the entire sphere of influence of the state capital Munich”. Now, Hefter says that he basically has nothing against gender-neutral language, but speaking with the imaginary asterisk pauses, “it tears me up every time.” In the song called “Gender Police” he expresses it even more clearly. “The gender, the one with a break inside, just sounds so shitty!”

It’s hard to imagine that with his song and his rather subtle Bavarian dance routine, Hefter doesn’t also send a few political greetings to his colleagues on the Munich City Council right in front of the town hall. Even if he says that the song is “not a statement”, but comes personally from “the deepest inner conviction”. For him, politics runs the risk of “no longer speaking the language of the people, but that of the elite”. For a stapler anyway, the elites tend to be the craftsmen who assemble solar panels. “And they talk differently.”

It is foreseeable that the opposition will sing along, hooting, especially the CSU, which likes to exploit gender as a topic suitable for populism. It is also to be feared that the AfD, which fundamentally rejects gendered templates, will jump up. But Hefter believes that such a topic should not be left to parties like the AfD. “There are so many who don’t like this kind of gendering.” In the anti-AfD song “Mia ned!” made unmistakably clear years ago.

It is not necessarily to be expected that some colleagues in the SPD parliamentary group and the Greens will accept the sometimes very simple, sometimes absurd songs with ease. On the one hand, this coalition, which is stuck in endless bickering, is far from having such a quality anyway, on the other hand, it only decided in December 2022 to invest four million euros for the gender-appropriate processing of city documents. Very few find the topic amusing here, for many it is an internal and political concern.

Hefter doesn’t think that’s a bad thing either, but he also calls for the tolerance of not having to approve of every form of gendering. In the song, which will be officially released this Thursday, he also sings as a precaution that he stands for equality and inclusion. But for him, politics and society are often too serious about such issues. “Humor is also important,” he says. What he understands by less dead serious and humor is also shown in the gender police video.

Hefter is sitting in the inn and wants to order a roast pork, which he often praises musically. He would also like a “Russian”, as a mixed drink made from wheat beer and lemonade was called before the revision of many menus. In his translation of everyday language, he should have drunk a “wheat lemonade European beer” instead. That’s too complicated for him, he sings, instead the waitress served him “a shandy”. In the end, it looks like Hefter is pleading for heavenly help with the gender emphasis. Incidentally, in his humor the authority at the top is called “God Mother in the Höh'”.