Colour Youth, an LGBTQ+ advocacy youth group in Greece claims there is a widespread homophobic climate in the country’s schools.
According to a survey conducted by the group, which included approximately 2,000 students, 84.9% of the respondents attached a negative connotation to the word “gay”; 96% said they had heard comments about students that were not acting “in a manly way”; 74.4% of students said they had heard transphobic comments; while one in three students had experienced some form of verbal harassment.
The results are consistent with the comparative survey by IGLYO (International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Queer & Transgender Youth and Student Organization).
Greece is among the worst countries in the EU regarding the inclusion of LGBTQ students in schools.
The official presentation of the results took place at an event held on 17 May 2018 at the General Secretariat of Information and Communication, on the occasion of the World Day Against Homophobia, Amphiphobia, and Transphobia.
The results of the survey show that it is imperative that key changes be made to the educational system in the direction of meaningful inclusion.
Some of the proposed improvements included:
-teacher education
-sexual education
-school textbooks and
-tackling school bullying