9-year-old girl sues German boys choir, cites gender bias

A historically boys-only Berlin choir is being sued by a 9-year-old German girl who said she was rejected from joining based on her gender, according to reports. 

The girl, who is unnamed in the case, applied to the Berlin State and Cathedral Choir twice in 2016 and 2018, her attorney Susann Braecklein told The Associated Press. She was rejected twice. 

{mosads}Braecklein told the AP the girl was told by the dean of the music faculty at the University of the Arts, of which the choir is part, “a girl will never sing in a boys choir.”

The choir has been around since 1456, according to its website. It gives training to about 250 boys and 75 young men in 11 different choir groups.

The girl’s mother, who is bringing forward the complaint on behalf of her daughter, argued that the girls-only partner choir could not have provided her daughter with the same quality of training. 

The choir claims that the girl’s rejection was “not predominantly about her gender,” and said she would have been asked to join “if her voice had matched the desired sound characteristics of a boys choir,” the AP reports.

A spokesperson for the University of the Arts told The Guardian she could not comment during legal proceedings. 

AP reports the choir refused to comment on the case.