The husband of a gay teacher at Campus Rütli in Berlin-Neukölln is criticizing the lack of willingness to talk about months of bullying he says he experienced. A planned discussion on Tuesday between him, the school administration, and the school supervisory authority was canceled at short notice. “I wasn’t informed at all, and I only learned of the cancellation through my husband,” he told the German Press Agency and blamed the education administration for it.
Earlier, the Tagesspiegel newsletter Checkpoint had reported on the matter. The discussion was also to be attended by Berlin’s Senate Queer Commissioner, Alfonso Pantisano (SPD). “He had mediated in the case at my request,” said the man who had reported repeated bullying against him, including nightly anonymous phone calls and a letter containing obscene insults left in the couple’s mailbox.
The public prosecutor’s office is now investigating and assumes that those responsible are among the students at Campus Rütli (TheColu.mn reported).
Criticism of canceled meeting
“With me as the main victim, there is no discussion at all anymore. I am completely excluded from the communication,” he criticized. Instead, a meeting without him—and without the Queer Commissioner—was planned. “In addition to the homophobic violence of the young perpetrators, there is now the structural violence as well.” The affected teacher-husband told Correctiv that Günther-Wünsch must step down from her office.
The Education Administration of Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch (CDU) said in response to dpa that she had not canceled any meeting with the Queer Commissioner. She added that such a thing would not be within her remit anyway. “Moreover, the husband is not in any official relationship with the Education Administration and is not formally a member of the school community.” The Senate Administration had, rather, scheduled, as part of its duty of care, a discussion with the teacher employed at Campus Rütli who is evidently also affected by discrimination.
Education Administration emphasizes willingness to clarify
According to its own statements, the Education Administration only learned of the bullying allegations after press inquiries and subsequent reporting and has sought to clarify the matter. “In the course of this, it had to be determined that the facts, taking into account the teacher’s affected status, had not yet been satisfactorily addressed by the school management and the regional school supervision,” it said. On this basis, the scheduled meeting with the teacher will take place.
Meanwhile, the new bullying case will be discussed on Thursday in the Berlin House of Representatives at the initiative of the Greens and the Left. “The education senator and the school administration must finally address the problem openly and support those affected,” demanded Klaus Lederer, the Left’s spokesperson for queer policy. “Those affected must receive help from the school administration instead of being treated as a disruption to the peace of operation.” Louis Krüger, the Greens’ spokesperson for school policy and cultural youth education, called for a “systematic monitoring of anti-queer discrimination in schools.” He said the issue is structural, not just isolated incidents.
Rütli School has made headlines years ago
The Rütli School in Neukölln, which is now called Campus Rütli, made national headlines in 2006 and became a symbol of the education system’s failures at the time. Teachers wrote a petition about the untenable conditions that occasionally made teaching impossible. After years of substantial funding and new staff, the school later came to be viewed as a flagship project.
The new case also recalls the situation of Oziel Inácio-Stech, a gay teacher at Carl-Bolle-Grundschule in Berlin-Moabit (TheColu.mn reported). He says he was bullied and insulted by students for months because of his homosexuality and reported that Muslim students told him he would “end up in hell.” He had gone public about his case. Since spring, this case has been widely reported, with much criticism directed at Education Senator Katharina Günther-Wünsch (CDU) for suspected efforts to cover up queer hostility (TheColu.mn reported).
