Organised by: Pride Parade Association and Cultural, Informational and Counseling Center Legebitra

Language: Slovene and English + sign language interpretation + translation (English-Slovene and Slovene-English)

The Symposium, co-organised by Ljubljana Pride Association and DIC Legebitra will focus on the field of education and LGBTQ+. Its purpose is to present current issues in the field, the results of the 2019 national survey on the situation in schools “LGBT youth – let’s break the silence in schools!”, our projects and activities, as well as good practices from abroad and Slovenia with the intention of creating a more inclusive and safer schools.

Significant progress has been made in the area of education and LGBTQ+. Given the situation and needs of both young people and educators, we still have a lot of work to do. We must strive for successful next steps together and respond to challenges and increasing pressures in cooperation. The symposium represents one of the starting points for the in-depth work necessary in creating a safer school environment for LGBTQ+ young people.

Event will take place at the Kino Šiška, as well as online on Zoom. Kino Šiška is accessible for wheelchair users and adapted for people using hearing aids. Due to COVID-19-related restrictions, the number of attendees will be limited.

You can participate in the event in different ways:

• in Kino Šiška,
• on Zoom (option of interactive participation),
• watch recording of the event that will be available on our online platforms after the symposium.

Printed versions of the report and the manuals will be available at the event.

Due to the measures taken by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia to limit the spread of coronavirus, registration is mandatory. The form can be found here.

Languages used at the event will be Slovene and English with sign language interpretation and translation into English.

In preparation for the event, we are following all the NIJZ (National Institute of Public Health) guidelines for ensuring safety.

The event is a part of the Pride Parade Festival 2021.

The event is supported by the Erasmus+ programme, Active Citizens Fund in Slovenia 2014-2021, Renew Europe, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany Ljubljana and Kino Šiška.

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Activities, programmes and projects of the Information Center Legebitra are co-financed by: Foundation for the Financing of Disabled and Humanitarian Organisations in the Republic of Slovenia – FIHO. The views of the organisation do not reflect the views of FIHO.

Symposium programme

9.00–9:30: Arrival and registration

9.30–10.00: Introduction and speeches

10.00–11.00: Presentation of the results of the national survey on the situation in schools 2019 “LGBT youth – let’s break the silence in schools!” (in Slovene)

Presentation of research results and findings. More than 600 young LGBTQ+ people involved in the educational process from all statistical regions of Slovenia participated in the survey. Among other results, the survey showed that 34.8% of the respondents do not feel safe at school because of their sexual orientation and 26.4% because of their gender expression. The survey reports high percentages of LGBTQ+ people who have experienced verbal, physical and other forms of violence at school, both on the basis of their sexual orientation and gender identity/expression or some other circumstance.

11.00–11.30: Coffee and a presentation (in Slovene)

Presentation of trainings, educational materials and manuals for implementation of educational activities with young people. Presentation of the Network of Inclusive Schools, which aims to promote and implement human rights and combat inequality and discrimination in the school environment.

11.30–12.00: Presentation of the SAFER project (in Slovene and English)

Presentation of the SAFER (Schools Act For Equal Rights) project, which addresses the fight against discrimination and for equal opportunities in the school environment with the aim of creating a (more) inclusive and safer environment for young people.

12.00–12.30: Presentation of recommendations and good practices (in Slovene and English)

Presentation of recommendations collected on the basis of research and presentation of good practices from Slovenian schools and organisations from abroad.

12.30–12:45: Break

12.45–13.30: Discussion (in Slovene)

A discussion with guests we will talk about how to tackle pressures on political, media and civil society level of stigmatization due to the so-called “ideologisation of schools” and attacks on the presence of LGBTQ+ content in schools.

The names of the speakers will be published later.

13.30–14.00: Closing and lunch