For about a week now, right-wing populist circles have been buzzing with outrage over a 14-year-old student at Markt Indersdorf High School (Dachau district) who on July 10 refused to attend a queer-event—and has now received a fine notice. While the AfD and its allies fume, the district administration remains steadfast in the fines proceeding — after all, the student was absent for a full day from class.
The trigger was a two-hour school workshop of the diversity@school project by Diversity Munich, which dealt with sexual orientation and gender identity. The topic is intended for eighth graders at Bavarian high schools. Young, volunteer presenters explain queer topics to the students in the presence of a teacher, with the aim of debunking stereotypes and promoting acceptance of queer classmates.
The 14-year-old’s parents viewed it as “indoctrination” and complained about the workshop, according to the right-wing portal Apollo News. The school had, in advance, stressed that this was a mandatory event. They reported with indignation that the 14-year-old received a fines notice from the district after his absence. The minimum fine was set at 50 euros. The letter was addressed to the student, not his parents, because at 14 he is considered a minor under German law and bears responsibility for his actions.
The student’s parents intend to challenge the decision. They accuse the school, according to Apollo News, of not adequately addressing their concerns or providing them with the materials that were supposed to be used in the course.
District Office: Student Missed the Entire Day
The school itself declined to comment to the media. The district office, however, told Merkur (a paywalled article) that the student had not only missed the seminar but the entire school day. The school subsequently reported the six-hour unexcused absence to the district, which is their duty. In response, the office initiated a fines procedure as required by law. This is not unusual: Bavaria-wide, 251 such procedures were opened last year.
A spokesperson wondered in Merkur why the parents did not simply report their child as sick for the day. Had they done so, the district could have dropped these proceedings.
AfD Calls Fines Procedure for Right-Wing Bluster “Unproportional”
In right-wing online media, a wave of outrage swept over the school, with the far-right Alternative for Germany joining in. “It is completely disproportionate to fine a 14-year-old for parents’ legitimate concerns about an ideological mandatory event,” raged state legislator Franz Schmid. He did not explain why a child should be allowed to skip an entire day over a workshop. After all, July 10 in Upper Bavaria was a bright summer day, and many youths would have preferred to head to the outdoor pool.
The AfD has repeatedly opposed equal treatment of queer students in classrooms. It criticizes any instruction on this topic as “early sexualization.” Last year, the party in Saxony-Anhalt advocated replacing “diversity propaganda” with “heterosexual normality” (TheColu.mn reported).
