While Pride Month is a time to celebrate LGBTQIA+ communities, it is also important to reflect on the realities they continue to face across Europe and beyond. Despite important progress in some areas, discrimination, violence and unequal access to rights and services remain widespread – from education and healthcare to employment, housing, sport and mental health support.
At CESIE ETS, we put inclusion at the heart of our work across education, youth participation, migration and community development. Through European cooperation projects, training activities and grassroots initiatives, we actively promote safer and more equitable spaces for LGBTQIA+ people and other communities at risk of exclusion.
Among our many initiatives, this commitment is reflected in four key projects that address inclusion from different perspectives – from schools and youth work to sport and migration – while sharing the same goal: building environments where diversity is recognised, respected and supported in everyday life.
When intersectionality multiplies discrimination: the case of LGBTQIA+ migrants and refugees and people seeking protection on SOGIESC grounds
LGBTQIA+ migrants and refugees often face complex challenges shaped by multiple and overlapping forms of discrimination, linked both to their gender identity or sexual orientation and to their migrant background. In practice, this can mean dealing with services that are not prepared to respond to their needs, being placed in unsafe or unsuitable reception centres where they may be exposed to discrimination, misgendering or violence. These challenges are compounded by limited access to informed legal support and uneven application of protections for asylum claims based on SOGIESC*. As a result, many people live with the constant risk of stigma or violence when disclosing their identity.
@nclusion responds to this reality by working on social inclusion and wellbeing through research, capacity-building and community-based approaches. In the second half of June, the project will launch the Rainbow Buddy Scheme, a peer-support programme designed to facilitate access to local services through trusted, community-based relationships.
The project has already published national and transnational reports on the attitudes of professionals working closely with migrants and LGBTQIA+ communities, highlighting gaps in knowledge and competences regarding the specific needs of these broad and diverse communities.
From awareness to action in schools and communities: building the skills to foster inclusion
A lack of awareness, combined with insufficient educational tools and opportunities for meaningful dialogue, is often at the root of discrimination against LGBTQIA+ communities. This is also evident in schools, where teachers and school leaders often do not receive adequate training in this area. Rainbow Schools works closely with teachers, school leaders, parents and students to help create safer and more inclusive environments for LGBTQIA+ learners.
At the heart of the project is a whole-school approach, which can bring about real change. Inclusion needs to be part of everyday school life – from classroom practices to policies, relationships and community dialogue. This is what allows schools to move from individual good intentions to a shared culture of respect and safety for all.
On 25 June 2026, the online participatory workshop Rainbow Lab: Tools for dialogue and inclusion will provide a space to discuss how LGBTQIA+ topics can be meaningfully integrated into school life and how schools can better tackle bullying, discrimination and exclusion.
Outside of school, youth workers play a key role in supporting young people through critical stages of growth and identity development. SAFE is a training course designed to strengthen their capacity to respond to the needs of LGBTQIA+ youth in a safe, informed and supportive way.
Through practical tools and inclusive methodologies, the participants will develop a better understanding of Comprehensive Sexuality Education and how to apply it in practice to promote wellbeing, healthy relationships, gender equality, and the prevention of gender-based violence in educational and community settings.
The training course will take place from 15-23 June at Borgo Danilo Dolci, named after its founder Danilo Dolci. The choice of venue is no coincidence: it is a place where Dolci’s maieutic approach, centred on dialogue, participation and collective learning, continues to be put into practice. The aim of the programme is to turn awareness into action in everyday youth spaces.
Sport as a space for growth, equity and wellbeing for all
Sport is another one of these powerful spaces where young people can find belonging and develop teamwork and wellbeing – but it can also reproduce patterns of exclusion and discrimination. SISTERS works with athletes, coaches and sports organisations to promote equity for LGBTQIA+ in sport and challenge these barriers.
The project recently published the Sports Bag, a practical resource that provides concrete tools and activities to coaches and athletes to promote more inclusive sports environments, addressing both everyday practices and the broader structures that shape participation.
To put these tools into practice, we have organised two training sessions for athletes and coaches on 13 and 19 June. They will offer participants the chance to deepen their understanding of these topics through shared learning and discussion. By integrating gender-sensitive and LGBTQIA+ inclusive approaches, SISTERS helps make sport a safer and more welcoming space for everyone.
Our commitment beyond Pride Month: building change every day
Pride Month reminds us that inclusion is not only about recognising rights; it is about creating the conditions that allow every person to participate fully in everyday life. Through our initiatives, we seek to demonstrate how every setting can become a space for positive change.
What unites all of our projects is a shared approach: transforming knowledge into practice, and practice into more inclusive environments. While challenges remain, these initiatives show that more equitable and welcoming spaces for LGBTQIA+ people are not only necessary, but are already being built through collective action across Europe.
*SOGIESC refers to the international acronym encompassing Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Expression, and Sex Characteristics.
