Diverse, inter, open

Six genders to choose from in Linz kindergartens

There is no unanimous opinion as to whether it makes sense to strongly address gender identity at kindergarten age.

(Bild: Markus Wenzel)

After Graz, the gender debate has now also reached the youngest children in Linz: parents can now choose from six genders when registering their child for kindergarten. "Four too many," says FP City Councillor for Health Michael Raml, expressing his incomprehension.

"What is this?" FP City Councillor Michael Raml no longer understands the world. And many parents in Linz must also have been surprised. Because anyone who wants to register their little bundle of joy for a kindergarten place now has six different options to choose from when asked about gender.

Six options to choose from
In addition to male and female, parents can also assign their offspring to the gender groups "diverse", "inter" or "open". "In my opinion, kindergarten should be a phase of light-heartedness and not one in which children are burdened with complex social issues," says Raml. Karin Hörzing, the officer responsible for the kindergartens, doesn't understand the uproar. "This is not a Linz phenomenon or something specific to Linz. It's a legal requirement in the central registration register."

This is what the kindergarten registration form looks like.

(Bild: zVg)

Supreme Court ruled in 2018
On June 15, 2018, the Constitutional Court ruled that "intersex persons have a right to an individual gender identity and a registration corresponding to their gender".

In light of the human right to respect for private and family life, there is no obligation to "rigidly" restrict official gender registrations to the binary male-female alternative. Rather, "the concept of gender is so general" that it also includes alternative gender identities, the Supreme Court found.