This paper argues that multilingualism is a relevant and revealing factor for analyzing language ideological phenomena. Specifically, it discusses the debate on gender-inclusive language on German from the perspective of L2 German speakers who learned the lan-guage as adults. The data analysis shows that multilinguals orient themselves to a different understanding of standard in their different languages when it comes to gender-inclusive language. Moreover, language ideologies play a more significant role and are more deeply rooted in the L1, which leads to an easier acceptance of creative gender-inclusive practic-es in the L2. Finally, the interviews indicate that there is a transfer between language ideologies from the L2 to the L1: After multilinguals have experienced what gender-inclusive language can look like in their less emotive language (their L2), similar language practices are adopted in the L1.