Every young person deserves reliable information about their body, identity, emotions, relationships and rights. Yet many LGBTIQ+ young people grow up without seeing their experiences represented in education. When classrooms and youth spaces remain silent about sexual orientation, gender identity and diverse relationships, that silence does not protect young people. It leaves them to navigate important questions alone.

Inclusive Emotional, Relationship and Sexuality Education – ERSE – offers a different path. It provides age-appropriate, evidence-based learning about bodies, consent, communication, identity, safety, relationships and wellbeing. Crucially, it recognises that young people do not all experience gender, attraction or family life in the same way.

Inclusive education does not tell young people who to be. It gives them the knowledge and language to understand themselves, respect others and seek support when they need it.

What silence looks like in Cyprus

For many LGBTIQ+ young people in Cyprus, school is not automatically a place of safety or recognition. The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights reported that 73% of LGBTIQ+ respondents in Cyprus had experienced bullying, ridicule, teasing, insults or threats at school because they were LGBTIQ+. Sixty-five per cent said they hid being LGBTIQ+ at school, while 61% said their school education never addressed LGBTIQ+ issues. ^[1]

These figures describe more than isolated incidents. They reveal an educational environment in which many young people learn that visibility may carry a cost. A learner who never hears their identity discussed respectfully may interpret absence as rejection. A young person who encounters only stereotypes may struggle to distinguish reliable information from prejudice. Someone facing bullying may not know which adult will listen without judgement.

The consequences can extend beyond the classroom. FRA also found that only 29% of LGBTIQ+ respondents in Cyprus were fairly or very open about being LGBTIQ+, and that 15% had often or always thought about suicide during the preceding year. These statistics should be read with care: education is not the only factor shaping wellbeing. Nevertheless, they underline the importance of supportive environments, accurate information and visible routes to help. ^[1]

What inclusive ERSE actually teaches

Sexuality education is sometimes reduced in public debate to lessons about sexual activity. In reality, high-quality education is much broader. The World Health Organization describes comprehensive sexuality education as a curriculum-based, incremental and scientifically accurate approach covering the cognitive, emotional, physical and social aspects of sexuality. Its subjects include relationships, respect, human rights, gender equality, consent, bodily integrity, communication, digital safety, identity, health and access to support. ^[2]

This means that inclusive ERSE should help young people develop practical capacities: recognising healthy and unhealthy behaviour, communicating boundaries, respecting consent, questioning stereotypes, navigating online information, understanding diverse identities and knowing where to seek assistance.

Inclusion is not a separate chapter added at the end. It should run through the entire learning experience. Examples, language and teaching materials should acknowledge LGBTIQ+ people without presenting them as problems to be explained. Diverse families and relationships should appear as part of social reality. Trans, non-binary and intersex experiences should be discussed accurately and respectfully, at a level appropriate to learners’ age and development.

Evidence, not fear

Concerns about sexuality education are often driven by the belief that providing information encourages earlier sexual activity. The evidence does not support this claim. WHO reports that well-designed education can improve knowledge and respectful attitudes, support safer choices and, in some settings, delay sexual initiation. It does not increase sexual activity or risk-taking. ^[2]

International technical guidance developed by UNESCO, WHO and other United Nations agencies places sexuality education within a framework of human rights and gender equality. It calls for learning that is positive, affirming, learner-centred and adapted to local contexts. ^[3]

The principle is straightforward: young people make safer and more responsible decisions when they have trustworthy information and the skills to use it. Withholding knowledge does not eliminate questions, attraction, relationships, online exposure, discrimination or abuse. It simply makes young people more dependent on informal sources that may be inaccurate or harmful.

Why inclusion benefits every learner

Inclusive ERSE is essential for LGBTIQ+ youth, but its benefits are not limited to one community. Every learner needs to understand consent, boundaries, communication, empathy, power and respect. Every young person benefits from learning how stereotypes shape expectations about masculinity, femininity, bodies and relationships.

UNESCO’s report Safe, Seen and Included argues that inclusive sexuality education benefits all learners. It identifies safe learning spaces, educator awareness of bias, well-designed curricula and effective training as central conditions for inclusion. ^[4]

When schools and youth organisations address diversity thoughtfully, they are not asking every young person to share the same identity or views. They are establishing a minimum standard of dignity: nobody should be bullied, misinformed or excluded because of who they are.

Art can open the conversation

Facts are indispensable, but learning about identity and relationships is also emotional. Young people may need ways to explore ambiguity, memory, fear, joy and belonging. Visual art can create that space.

An artwork does not begin by demanding a correct answer. It invites observation: What do we notice? What might the artist be expressing? Why does this image make us comfortable or uncomfortable? Whose story is visible, and whose story is missing? These questions allow learners to approach lived experience through curiosity rather than defensiveness.

UNESCO’s Framework for Culture and Arts Education recognises that culture and the arts can strengthen social and emotional capacities, including empathy, solidarity and pluralistic thinking. It also encourages dialogue, participation and learning that reflects different identities and contexts. ^[5]

For LGBTIQ+ young people, queer art can offer recognition. For other learners, it can create a personal encounter with experiences that may otherwise remain abstract. Used responsibly, art does not replace evidence-based education; it makes the human meaning of that education easier to feel and discuss.

Rainbow Rhythms: from representation to learning

Rainbow Rhythms brings these educational and artistic approaches together. The project links ERSE with visual arts and the personal stories of queer artists. It is designed for youth populations aged 16 to 35 and creates resources for youth workers, trainers and educators. ^[6]

The project starts from an important insight: queer people should not appear in education only as definitions, risk categories or legal debates. Artists can speak in their own voices, allowing learners to encounter identity through colour, form, memory and personal narrative.

The Rainbow Rhythms exhibition and digital exhibition database extend this encounter beyond a single event. Artworks and stories can become prompts for facilitated discussions about identity, relationships, visibility, discrimination and belonging. They can support workshops in which young people practise listening, ask questions and reflect on their own assumptions. ^[7]

This approach is especially useful in non-formal education. Youth organisations can provide participatory spaces that complement schools, reach young adults and respond flexibly to community needs. The United Nations’ guidance on out-of-school sexuality education specifically emphasises evidence-based, culturally responsive and trauma-informed programmes for groups who may be overlooked, including lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex young people. ^[8]

The adults around young people matter

A strong curriculum cannot succeed without adults who are prepared to deliver it. Educators and youth workers need accurate content, practical facilitation methods, safeguarding procedures and confidence in responding to difficult questions. They also need the humility to recognise what they do not know and to refer young people to appropriate services.

Parents and caregivers also have an important role. Their involvement should not turn education into surveillance or require young people to disclose private information. Instead, families can reinforce messages about respect, consent, safety and unconditional support. WHO notes that consistent messages across schools, homes and communities can strengthen learning. ^[2]

Institutions must support individuals through clear anti-bullying policies, confidential reporting channels and visible referral pathways. A learner should not have to depend on finding one exceptionally understanding adult. Safety and inclusion should be built into the system.

From silence to responsibility

Cyprus does not protect young people by leaving them without language for their experiences. Nor does it protect families by allowing social media, pornography, rumours or prejudice to become the default curriculum. Responsible education meets young people where they are and gives them tools to evaluate what they encounter.

For Accept LGBTI Cyprus, inclusive education is part of a broader commitment to equality and human dignity. It means working toward schools and youth spaces where LGBTIQ+ people are not merely tolerated, but recognised as full members of the community.

Rainbow Rhythms shows how this work can be creative as well as rigorous. Through queer art and lived experience, information becomes conversation; representation becomes recognition; and a difficult subject becomes an opportunity to practise empathy.

Silence leaves young people alone with their questions.
Inclusive education gives them knowledge, confidence and choices.
Art helps those conversations begin.

References

1. European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights. EU LGBTIQ Survey III: Country Data – Cyprus, 2024. Country factsheet
2. World Health Organization. “Comprehensive sexuality education.” 11 March 2026. WHO fact sheet
3. UNESCO, UNAIDS, UNFPA, UNICEF, UN Women and WHO. International Technical Guidance on Sexuality Education: An Evidence-Informed Approach. Revised edition, 2018. Technical guidance
4. UNESCO. Safe, Seen and Included: Report on School-Based Sexuality Education, 2023. UNESCO report
5. UNESCO. Framework for Culture and Arts Education, 2024. UNESCO framework
6. Rainbow Rhythms. “Project.” Project overview
7. Rainbow Rhythms. “Digital Exhibition Database.” Digital exhibition
8. UNFPA, UNESCO, UNICEF, UNAIDS and WHO. International Technical and Programmatic Guidance on Out-of-School Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Condensed Edition, 2020. Out-of-school guidance