“Rainbow Rhythms” aspires to promote a more positive stance towards introducing an inclusive sexual education curriculum to youth populations. More specifically, it aims to shift perceptions of sexual orientation, gender identity, and relationships through by providing of an updated curriculum that links Emotional, Relationship, and Sexual Education (ERSE) with visual arts, specifically addressed to youth populations (ages 16-35). This will be achieved by promoting Rainbow Art Exhibitions and the personal stories of Queer Artists and their artworks. The project’s results will be targeted at youth workers/trainers and youth educators, aiming to promote active citizenship and inclusion amongst young people. The project focuses on LGBTQI+ youth’s struggles and is a step closer to achieving the goals of the EU Anti-discrimination Action Plan and LGBTQI+ Equality Strategy 2020-2025.
Why ERSE?
A revised Health and Physical Education curriculum can promote inclusive Sexual Education (SE) and redefine current toxic gender norms/roles. Inclusive Emotional, Relationship, and Sexual Education (ERSE) benefits all, including LGBTQI+ individuals. ERSE is known to reduce high-risk sexual behaviours, which is critical, knowing that LGBTQI+ people are disproportionally affected by negative sexual health outcomes and stereotypes that are reproduced by the discriminatory policies and norms that are prevalent across the EU (FRA 2020). This discriminatory norm leads to many LGBTQI+ youths becoming victims of prejudice and segregation during their critical years of self-discovery. They are also victims of policies that support educational systems that ignore theories and science-based facts for teaching about healthy relationships and preventing the contraction of sexually transmitted infections. Despite its importance, gender is not a central consideration in formal and non-formal education and has long been neglected in EU youth work, youth policy, and education (CYFPA 2015).
Even where there is a sex education curriculum in effect, it often excludes LGBTQI+ people, reinforcing discrimination. “Rainbow Rhythms” promotes a more positive stance towards the introduction of an inclusive ERSE curriculum, incorporating the promotion of a comprehensive Health and Physical Education curriculum in youth education. This can be facilitated more successfully by promoting queer art exhibitions and the personal stories behind queer artists’ artworks. Rainbow Rhythms’ results will be targeted specifically toward youth organizations to promote youth’s active citizenship & inclusion whilst also involving their parents to combat discrimination based on sexual orientation/identity. When young people seek information, they need to know where to turn to avoid feeling anxiety, shame, or fear. Lack of visibility and information about sexuality for all youth, but especially LGBTQI+, is a preventive factor in building their healthy and positive self-image.
Why Queer Arts?
“Rainbow Rhythms” is a bottom-up effort to shift and alternate already-existing prejudice towards LGBTQI+ communities by spreading awareness of ERSE within youth organizations. The curricula produced will focus on addressing the issues mentioned above through the particular use of Queer Arts. The reason we insist on merging arts and social inclusion instead of social studies, for example, is because social studies present knowledge of human experiences, while art has the power to provide an intimate understanding of human experiences through personal encounters that yield deeper insights. Art, as a way of knowing, presents a kind of knowledge that the facts and abstractions of social studies cannot make known.
Visual arts, especially queer arts, are a powerful tool for promoting ERSE dialogue. It can often be called controversial by some people, but queer art is perhaps the ideal weapon in the fight towards a more inclusive, queer-friendly, and anti-discriminatory framework. Picasso once said, “If everyone would paint, political re-education would be unnecessary,” and the arts are a great asset for redefining human rights, morality, and freedom of expression.
Expected Results:
“Queering UP Arts Guidebook: How ERSE can promote democratic values and Queer Arts’ Role to the Fight” aims to increase awareness of how important it is to introduce ERSE to youth education curricula, connect ERSE with the promotion of democratic values and the promotion of active citizenship, and promote the arts as a means of addressing issues of sexuality and gender discrimination.
“The ERSE framework & Creation of Non-Formal Training Activities” aims to create ready-to-use training material targeting youth and their parents/relatives that break the boundaries of the already-existing curricula for each country and raise awareness about ERSE and Queer Arts.
“Implementation of the physical National Art Exhibitions & Digitalisation of the Exhibitions” aims to enhance the relations between youth, parents, and queer artists in an effort to fight LGBTQI+ discrimination through the co-curatorship of artworks. It also aims to encourage more public discussions and debates about gender identity.
Partner Organisations
C.I.P. Citizens In Power – Nicosia, Cyprus (citizensinpower.org/) – Coordinator
ACCEPT LGBTI Cyprus – Nicosia, Cyprus (accept.cy/home/)
Stichting art.1 – Amsterdam, The Netherlands (stichtingart1.nl/en/)
ASOCIACION CAMINOS – Andalucía, Spain (www.asoccaminos.org/)
UNESCO Youth Club Thessaloniki – Thessaloniki, Greece (unescoyouth.gr)
Project Number: 2023-2-CY02-KA220-YOU-000174852
Project Duration: 31/08/2024 – 30/08/2026
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