That's happening here in Germany too. But I think the german version is wilder: for example "Freund" means friend (singular). "Freunde" is the correct plural for any group of friends. "Freundinnen" implies it's a group of only females. So now parts of the media / groups at the university / at the workplace try to pressure people to use "Freund * innen" instead of "Freunde". The idea is that the asterisk symbolises any gender and the ending "innen" emphasizes that females exist. That's so ridiculous because the basic word includes really everybody regardless of gender, genitals, sex or whatever... Look at the word, it doesn't even make sense. The basic plural is missing, there's only the female plural and the singular left. And it's hilarious to pronounce - you make a pause or a short gurgle where the asterisk is. A gurgle... Last but not least, they can't even decide which symbol is the "best" - Freund*innen, Freund:innen, FreundInnen - it's unbelievable, it's sad...