A pair of three-year-old twin boys were turned away from a Swiss daycare centre because they have two gay fathers.
The playgroup in Lenzburg, central Switzerland, refused to enroll Rafael and Rahul because its owner believes that a gay couple raising children is “neither normal nor natural.”
The daycare director told Stefan, one of the twins’ fathers, that the decision was for the benefit of the children.
“She said that little ones could be very mean to each other, so she did not want to have children from a gay couple,” he told Swiss newspaper 20 Minutes.
Regula Aeschbach, head of the region’s daycare centres, admitted that it was discriminatory. But as this particular daycare is privately funded it is under no obligation to accept the children of same-sex couples.
“This case shows that protection against hatred and discrimination is a necessity. If these children had Jewish parents, such an exclusion would already be punishable,” said Cordula Niklaus, lawyer and Vice President of Wybernet, a lesbian professional network.
When contacted by Swiss newspaper Sonntagsblick, the daycare owner refused to apologise. She said she has the right to decide which children she cares for, and claimed she had been the victim of a “witch hunt.”
Lenzburg locals hit back at the discriminatory daycare by organising a ‘kiss in’ outside the town’s train station.
“We want to combat hatred with the expression of love and discrimination against people because of their sexuality must be banned,” Mia Jenni, the protest organiser, told Sonntagsblick.
Stefan and his partner Rosha are still shocked by their children’s rejection from the daycare and are considering waiting for preschool to start next year instead of putting their children in a playgroup this year.
“It’s good that our case is causing a discussion about homophobia in society. We hope that lesbian or gay couples will no longer have to face such discrimination,” concluded Stefan.
