Austria: Poster of naked transgender people shown to kindergarteners leads to major conflict with parents

At least two parents in Austria are outraged by a poster of a naked trans man in an ORF kindergarten in Vienna, resulting in two children leaving the kindergarten.

The poster showed a trans man with a penis and breasts taking a shower and featured the slogan: “Bodies, naked and bare, vulva, penis, breasts, butt. You decide for yourself, yes! Bodies are great!”

The existence of the poster came to light when the boy of one family asked his father what the “strange pictures” are in the kindergarten. The father went to the kindergarten and saw the poster of various people taking showers naked, which shocked him.

The kindergarten initially responded to the complaint from the boy’s father by taking down the poster, but after discussions with the regional head and then the management of KinderWien (Kiwi) organization, the family was told the posters were appropriate.

“The manager advocated sexual education for 1- to 6-year-olds without any educational background, which seemed highly inappropriate to us,” said the mother in an interview with Austrian newspaper Kronen Zeitung.

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Since the parents and the kindergarten could not come to an agreement, the parents were threatened that they would lose their kindergarten spot for their two children, aged one and four.

“We were always concerned with a good solution in the interests of the children, but because we dared to criticize the practices of early sexualization, we were banned from all Kiwi facilities, including the daycare center,” the parents told the newspaper.

However, the kindergarten claims that it was a “mutual” decisions for the parents to leave with their children.

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The conflict took place a year ago, and it is unclear why the family is only turning to the media now.

The poster comes from a book entitled: “Bodies are great,” which is designed to combat body shaming.

While the book was not read inside the kindergarten, Kiwi argues it is part of the Vienna education plan and is a “clear educational task.” Kiwi stated that “the children should be taught that bodies are very different, i.e., fat or thin, dark or light, large or small.”