Homophobia and Discrimination on

<strong>Homophobia</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Discrimination</strong> on Grounds of Sexual Orientation <strong>and</strong> Gender Identity in the EU Member States
78
In Bulgaria, for instance, when the project Deafening Silence: The Case in My School
funded by the MATRA Program of the Dutch embassy attempted to probe awareness of
LGBT issues in Bulgarian high schools of the 144 high schools invited to participate in
an initial meeting for the project in the summer of 2007 just 15 responded <strong>and</strong> only
seven participated.
Good practice: Educational material for schools: In Belgium, the Education Minister of
the French Community issued in 2006 an educational guidebook on homophobia at
school that was sent to every primary <strong>and</strong> high school in the French-speaking region. 231
Also in Belgium, the Flemish government subsidised a pioneering project of the Region
of Flemish-Brabant in 2007 developing an educational toolkit on ‘gender diversity <strong>and</strong>
transgender’ for pupils from 14 to 18 years of age. 232
Good practice: Children's books: ILGA Portugal has been involved in producing two
children's books with the objective of reaching parents <strong>and</strong> children, explaining the
subject of sexual diversity <strong>and</strong> deconstructing stereotypes <strong>and</strong> prejudice against LGBT
persons <strong>and</strong> families. 233
Teaching aid on sexual identity: In Slovenia, The Peace Institute issued in 2003 the CD-
ROM 'Diversity Makes Us Richer, Not Poorer: The Everyday Life of Gays <strong>and</strong> Lesbians'
featuring three short movies on experiences of discrimination by gays <strong>and</strong> lesbians in
everyday life <strong>and</strong> six sets of interviews with lesbians <strong>and</strong> gays discussing issues of
coming out, family, violence, workplace, friends, etc. It is intended to assist teachers in
classroom discussions on homosexuality. 234
Conclusions
Incidents of bullying <strong>and</strong> harassment of LGBT persons are reported in educational
settings across the EU affecting the school performance <strong>and</strong> well-being of LGBT
students <strong>and</strong> leading to marginalisation, poor health or dropping out of school. School
authorities across the EU pay little attention to these worrying phenomena <strong>and</strong> teachers
often lack the awareness, training <strong>and</strong> tools to recognise <strong>and</strong> tackle such problems
effectively.
LGBT NGOs across the EU raise concerns regarding the absence of sexual orientation
issues as well as positive representation of LGBT people <strong>and</strong> their families in
231 Belgium, country report
232 Fieldwork meeting with Fl<strong>and</strong>ers Ministry of Education (Belgium 4 April 2008) <strong>and</strong> Belgium, country
report
233 W. Pena (2007) Por quem me apaixonarei? Associacão ILGA Portugal/eraseunavez.com <strong>and</strong> J.T.
Delgado (2007) De onde venho? Associacão ILGA Portugal/eraseunavez.com, see http://www.ilgaportugal.pt/noticias/20071208.htm
(22.01.2008)
234 See http://www2.mirovni-institut.si/razlicnost/eng/index.html (17.10.2008)