Homophobia in Moabit: Teacher Oziel Inácio-Stech fights for recognition!

Homophobia in Moabit: Teacher Oziel Inácio-Stech fights for recognition!

Berlin-Moabit, Deutschland - In a shocking turn, the history of the Inácio-Stech inclusion teacher in the Carl Bolle primary school in Berlin-Moabit has triggered a broad public discussion about homophobia in schools. The teacher, who has been working at this school for over eight years, has been faced with massive hostility and bullying-like conditions since his coming out. While he tries to support his students as best as possible, he himself becomes a victim of disrespect and insults.

The difficulties began after Inácio-Stech spoke openly about his sexual orientation and brought his husband to a summer festival. Schneider report on school incidents in which students gave him physically threatened and insulting statements such as "gay is disgusting". In another alarming incident, a third grader refused to accept food from him because her mother described him as "impure". Despite these serious incidents, the school management did not respond appropriately to his complaints, and instead it was often faced with allegations.

support and isolation

The lack of support from the school management and his colleagues has deeply injured Inácio-Stech. Reports of negative experiences among LGBTI teachers in schools are alarming, shows a study by the Federal Association of Queere Education. There it is confirmed that discrimination against LSBTIAQ*is widespread. Not only Inácio-Stech, but numerous teachers and students are affected by a toxic school climate that heavily burdened gays, lesbians and transgender people.

An investigation by the 2019 LGBTI survey, which included over 16,000 people from Germany, underlines this problem. 62 % of those surveyed stated that they had to hide their sexual orientation or identity in schools. This shows how big the pressure is, which is based on many LGBTI people in educational institutions.

Legal steps and psychological stress

oziel Inácio-Stech even forced itself to take legal action after the school suggested that he was protecting a distance from the students. The staff council advised him to submit a transfer application, which only reinforced the isolation of the teacher. Inácio-Stech perceives this situation as bullying, especially since a police investigation was also initiated against him, but it was without consequences.

The psychological stress caused by these incidents are enormous. The teacher now suffers from anxiety attacks and even needed hospital treatment. A complaint to the school supervision remained unanswered for months, while the educational management stated that there was no discrimination. In view of these circumstances, Inácio-Stech plans to leave school because he feels left alone and receives no support from Berlin's education.

The discrimination of LSBTI people in schools is a serious problem that urgently needs to be addressed. It is due to schools and society to ensure that diversity is accepted and promoted. This is the only way to create a respectful and inclusive environment for everyone involved - teachers and students. This makes it clear how important it is to address the topic of visibility of LGBTI people in the education system and to act accordingly.

For more information, read the detailed reports on SPIEGEL MOZ . Further statistics and concepts for support can be found on LSVD .