Twins Rafael and Rahul were refused by a daycare center in Lenzburg in central Switzerland because their parents are a gay couple.
Local activists later staged a kiss-in to protest the daycare owner's assertion that a gay couple raising children was "neither normal nor natural."
Stefan—one of the twins' fathers—disclosed what the daycare owner told him:
"She said that little ones could be very mean to each other, so she did not want to have children from a gay couple."
When contacted by Swiss newspaper Sonntagsblick, the owner doggedly refused to apologize and claimed that she was a victim of a "witch hunt."
She maintained she had the right to choose which children attend her daycare and can turn any away for whatever reason she desires. Which may or may not be true, but the public also has the right to protest her bigotry.
A kiss-in was held to denounce the blatant discrimination and raise public awareness of the situation.
Kiss-in organizer Mia Jenni told Sonntagsblick:
"We want to combat hatred with the expression of love... and discrimination against people because of their sexuality must be banned."
Cordula Niklaus, member of the Committee for the Extension of the Anti-Racist Standard (CEARS), lawyer and vice president of Wybernet (a lesbian professional network) said of the daycare's refusal:
"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."
CEARS is a group backing Switzerland's anti-racist laws to be extended to include sexual orientation.
Doing so would make discrimination such as this, based solely on sexual orientation, punishable by law in the same way as other forms of discrimination.
Swiss citizens are set to vote on whether to extend those protections on February 9, 2020.
Many people on social media were highly critical of the daycare owner.
@suzanalou/Twitter
The twins' fathers, Stefan and Rosha, were truly shocked by the refusal. They are considering waiting until the twins start preschool next year instead of finding them a daycare playgroup now.
Stefan hopes that his family's story helps to prevent other families from having to go through the same thing.
"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."
People fear what they don't understand, the book Ingrid Has Two Dads: My Family Is Normal! is available here to begin a dialogue wih your kids so they don't become "very mean to each other."
"Veronica, the most popular girl in second grade, made fun of Ingrid for having two dads. Because Ingrid pushed Veronica, her principal is making her write a journal for one week about why having gay parents means she is just like everyone else. What will Ingrid and other kids learn about her family?"
@kileywrestling/Bluesky
