His blue hair, rainbow make-up, colourful clothes and deer antlers do not go unnoticed. Not everyone is happy about Tatta Tom's presence in schools.
Following a reading session at the library in Esch-sur-Alzette last July, former ADR candidate Tom Weidig had triggered a blaze of hate speech towards Tatta Tom on social media. Weidig is now back at it by attacking workshops organised in the presence of Tatta Tom at the agricultural school in Gilsdorf.
On his Facebook page, Weidig called for users to flood the school with protest messages, which has been widely followed.
‘Tatta Tom is in our schools indoctrinating children with his LGBTQI+ ideology, all paid for by our taxes’, the politician wrote after photos were published of the workshops attended by pupils from two classes of 7th and 6th form last week.
‘Go to the school's page and tell them what you think, but please remain objective’, called Tom Weidig.
Unsurprisingly, some of the comments were clearly tactless and went beyond the acceptable. The tone quickly escalated between the various parties.
Who is Tatta Tom?
Tatta Tom is a drag queen who, according to his creator, offers child-friendly readings on diversity and tolerance before answering questions from young audiences. Tom Hecker, the man behind the project, doesn't understand the hateful comments and resistance he has to face, even though his speech serves only to show that everyone has the right to exist and that diversity is a strength.
Tom Delles, headmaster of the agricultural technical college, agrees, and the post quickly became the most commented on the school's official page. Delles continues to defend his decision to invite Tatta Tom to his school, stressing that raising awareness is part of the school's educational mission.
‘Tom Weidig and his supporters never addressed the issue and only promote hatred,’ the headmaster laments.
Ironically, it is partly thanks to the ADR politician that Tatta Tom's reputation has really taken off:
‘I've never been so much in demand as since last summer.’
The workshops were organised in the run-up to the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia on 17 May. The headmaster does not believe that parents should have given their consent for their children to take part in these workshops:
"It's the same principle as during police visits, Orange Week or International Women's Rights Day when other campaigns or workshops are organised at the school. And the hateful comments clearly show the importance of this awareness-raising work."
As opposed to last July, the hateful comments have been met with more messages of support, confirm the artist and management, who point out that the reactions generally have become more positive in real life. The headmaster pointed out that only one mother complained.
Tom Hecker also explains that criticism is rarer when his detractors come face to face with him, whereas it abounds on the internet. Nevertheless, Tatta Tom was the victim of death threats by e-mail last year, and a complaint was lodged following the incident.
