With concern, the signatories of this letter note that on July 20th, a petition was launched online with the aim of urging the government to remove LGBTIQA+ topics from the curricula of minors. This occurred less than a week after Luxembourg Pride, whose purpose is to give visibility to queer individuals.
We are surprised that a petition is considered admissible that treats LGBTIQ+ identities as an ideology that parents should explain according to their own values and beliefs, or not at all, thereby creating exclusions. Petition No. 3198 suggests, as we understand it, that awareness of queer identities could cause a psychopedagogical disturbance. Furthermore, we want to point out that invisibilizing these identities is a clear exclusion of the LGBTIQA+ community, which we see as a queerphobic act1. Accordingly, we believe that the ethical principles that a petition must fulfill are not being respected. This petition violates human rights as well as the government’s commitment in the coalition agreement to inclusive education, ignoring empirical and scientific realities.
The fact that the petition reached the necessary 4,500 signatures within three days of its publication, and was subsequently commented on by far-right politicians, such as an ADR deputy, contributes once again to an anti-queer discourse that has worsened in recent years.
Such a ban would clearly constitute censorship and reminds us of legislative initiatives known from other countries, such as Russia or Hungary, as well as the “Don’t say gay” law implemented in the US state of Florida.
The signatories of this letter want to point out that despite longstanding demands from the queer community and allied organizations in Luxembourg, as well as a study by the University of Luxembourg titled Les représentations du genre dans les manuels scolaires – Une étude à l’école secondaire luxembourgeoise2 from 2023 shows, LGBTIQA+ topics are still not consistently integrated into the school curriculum. The invisibilization of queer identities in education results in children possibly never encountering these life realities, adopting prejudices, or, if they are affected themselves, being unable to learn about their own identity in a safe space, leaving them feeling isolated. The petition violates the human rights of queer minors, their parents, and the queer community in Luxembourg as a whole. We emphasize that comprehensive education about emotional and sexual health is an important means of preventing violence, abuse, and discrimination. This type of prevention clearly belongs to the rights of the child.
Of course, all forms of school content must always be age-appropriate for the students. The invisibilization of life identities, which are part of our society, does not serve our children or our society, least of all queer children or the children of rainbow families. The role of schools is to educate about our diverse society free from prejudice.
1 Art.15(2) of the Constitution: « Nul ne peut être discriminé en raison de sa situation ou de circonstances personnelles »
2 https://www.uni.lu/fr/news/les-representations-du-genre-dans-les-livres-scolaires-en-secondaire/
The signatories:
4motion
CID FRAEN AN GENDER
CESAS
CET
Centre LGBTIQ+ Cigale
Citizens for Ecological Learning & Living
De Podcast Méi wéi Sex
Familljen-Center
FESTROGEN
Laboratoire d’Études Queer, sur le Genre et les Féminismes – LEQGF Asbl
LËTZ RISE UP
Megaphone
Musée National de la Résistance et des Droits Humains
Planning Familial
PRIZMA – uni.lu LGBT+ Students’ Association
queer loox
Richtung22
Rosa Lëtzebuerg asbl
