“The future is queer!” is the main theme of this year’s Leipzig Pride. Unfortunately, the road to this future still seems a long way off, as two current examples illustrate.
The AfD Saxony is attempting to take action against what it sees as the prevailing “gender madness in the timetable” with a state-wide campaign. In addition to lurid posters in the vicinity of schools and on the way to and from school, appropriately labelled vehicles before and after school are intended to protect Saxon children and young people and encourage parents to veto unwelcome lesson content and demand the classic role model of a family consisting of man, woman and child. The Saxon Ministry of Education and Cultural Affairs is responsible for the timetable, and schools, teachers and parents have no influence over it. The “School of Diversity” project in particular is a thorn in their side. Rolf Weigand (education policy spokesperson for the AfD parliamentary group) is quoted by the Tagesschau news programme as saying that “external associations would decidedly promote transsexuality and thus drive young people astray”. The core accusation of the campaign: “early sexualisation” of children and young people, which would confuse them and make them more susceptible to abuse.
A fear that is clearly not just a concern for the AfD in Saxony. In Munich, a reading for children aged 4 and over was organised for 13 June to mark Pridemonth at Bogenhausen City Library under the motto “Wir lesen euch die Welt, wie sie euch gefällt” (We’ll read the world the way you like it), which was given by a drag queen, a drag king and a young trans author. Reactions were not long in coming. Hubert Aiwanger (Freie Wähler / Deputy Bavarian Minister President) labelled the event as “endangering the welfare of children”, referring to the readers and their staging on social media. CSU General Secretary Martin Huber took a stand on Twitter with: “Just let children be children… Four-year-olds should play with building blocks or modelling clay and not be indoctrinated with woke early sexualisation”.
Fuelling fear of queer identities and modern educational work is well known and easy to see through. Professional educational work on sexual and gender diversity is important and right. It should be expanded and supported! Organisations such as RosaLinde Leipzig e.V. make an irreplaceable contribution to reducing discrimination and hatred in our society with their educational projects. This is why CSD Leipzig has been calling for years for scientifically sound training in gender and sex education for all relevant professions at Saxon colleges, universities and vocational schools to complement the educational projects for children and young people!
You can find out more about the RosaLinde Leipzig e.V. educational project and the “School of Diversity” project at rosalinde-leipzig.de.
