LGBTQI Inclusive Education Report

Over the course of 2016, IGLYO asked lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex
(LGBTQI) young people from across Europe to share their experiences of school. Regardless of
the country in which they lived, their stories were frighteningly similar: fear, isolation, exclusion,
and violence.
IGLYO has been working on the topic of education, and, more specifically, tackling homophobic,
biphobic, transphobic, and interphobic bullying in schools for many years. Over this time, we
have worked directly with LGBTQI young people, teachers, youth organisations, academics, and
politicians to better understand specific issues with a view to developing effective strategies and

solutions. We have created a number of resources, have run several events and delivered nu-
merous trainings. Despite our best efforts, however, a disproportionate number of LGBTQI

learners still have a negative experience of school.
Although we had gained a good understanding of what worked, and knew of some impressive

programmes, campaigns and policies, we realised that a comprehensive overview of the situa-
tion within each European country was still needed. IGLYO, therefore, wanted to create a

resource, drawing on the knowledge of civil society organisations, to reflect the situation of
LGBTQI learners and provide clearer guidance for governments and education ministries. The
result is the LGBTQI Inclusive Education Index and Report. These are two valuable tools to help
highlight and compare both good practices and areas for development within each Council of
Europe Member State. They should be seen as an opportunity for governments to review their

successes and progress to date, learn from other countries, and map their future actions in re-
lation to LGBTQI inclusion within schools.

All young people have the right to education, but research shows that this is still far from being

a reality for many LGBTQI learners. We firmly believe that the LGBTQI Education Index and Re-
port can play a vital role in changing this for the better.