Leo: "I'm not a boy"

Gender topics in school textbooks irritate parents

Content relating to gender identities causes confusion for many children.(Bild: Tröster Andreas)

How much space should gender topics take up in nurseries and schools? For some Styrian parents, it's clearly already going too far. They are offended by the relevant representations in school textbooks, for example. 

"Leo has a nice new name: Jennifer. [...] 'I'm not a boy', says Leo" - these sentences come from a textbook used in a Styrian elementary school (see also excerpt below). The parents of one pupil - and not the only ones - contacted the "Krone" with irritation: "Although we as parents are not conservative and are generally very tolerant, the text irritated us. We wonder why it is necessary to confront an eight-year-old child, who doesn't understand a lot of it, with texts about people who want to change their gender," the West Styrians explain.

An excerpt from a textbook that some parents find irritating.(Bild: zVg)

Provincial council wants to put pressure on the federal level
When asked by the Styrian State Councillor for Education, Stefan Hermann (FPÖ), it was stated that textbooks are checked and approved throughout Austria by a separate commission. The Styrian Education Directorate cannot intervene directly in this matter. Hermann emphasizes: "The passages in question seem strange as the content of a textbook. Schools are places of knowledge and learning where there is no place for uncertainty caused by questionable gender messages." He will contact the Federal Commission and insist "that such ideological indoctrination attempts are avoided in future".

Content relating to gender identities causes confusion for many children.(Bild: Tröster Andreas)

Schools are havens of knowledge and learning where there is no place for confusion caused by questionable gender messages.

Bildungslandesrat Stefan Hermann (FPÖ)

Bild: Jauschowetz Christian

The leading Styrian school psychologist Josef Zollneritsch says that no one needs to be afraid when the topic of transsexuality is raised: "I would say that it should be dealt with calmly." However, he also emphasizes: "I would describe it as a marginal topic and that's how it should be treated in textbooks." In everyday school psychology, this topic is only dealt with in individual cases.

Children's books should break down role models
In Graz, however, a recently presented initiative for "gender-sensitive children's books" is also causing a stir. In a brochure published by the Department of Women and Gender Equality - which was also sent to municipal kindergartens and elementary school - 18 books are recommended. The fact that they depict boys in pink dresses, for example, is met with skepticism by some parents. "I find it worrying that your child is being taught different things than at home and that you as mom or dad are not even asked," says one mother in a ServusTV report.

It's about an important message: whether boy or girl, all children should be able to realize their talents and interests.

Elke Kahr, Bürgermeisterin Graz

Bild: Jauschowetz Christian

"Gender-sensitive children's books" are not accepted by all parents.(Bild: ServusTV)

"Children should be able to develop freely"
The office of KPÖ Mayor and Women's City Councillor Elke Kahr would first like to clear up a misconception or misrepresentation in the media: the City of Graz does not distribute such books, but has merely published a brochure with recommendations. "This is about an important message: whether boy or girl, all children should be able to realize their talents and interests," says Kahr. As a women's city councillor, she wants to make a contribution "to ensuring that all children in our city can develop freely and are not already assigned a role in kindergarten".