“It is important that students receive the correct information about LGBTQIA+ topics. Children spend a lot of time at school. A safe environment to talk about this is essential,” co-chair Nadia Naji and Deputy Prime Minister Petra De Sutter write in a press release.
“More than six in ten LGBTQIA+ students do not feel safe in the classroom. By being taught and talking about sexual diversity, gender diversity and family diversity, students receive correct information and a strong signal,” it says.
In addition to new “minimum goals regarding gender and sexual orientation” in the curricula, gender-inclusive toilets (including separated urinals) and official communication in gender-inclusive language should help ensure a safe school environment.
The Greens also want more attention to LGBTQIA+ themes during teacher training and further training. Confidential counselors at school must be able to assist LGBTQIA+ students.
Constitution
The Rainbow Plan goes further than education. It also advocates the enshrinement of LGBTQIA+ rights in the constitution.
Last week, the De Croo government declared a long series of constitutional articles subject to revision during the next period of government. One of these is Article 11. This makes anchoring possible (provided that a two-thirds majority is found for this in the future parliament).
Green also wants to regulate better prosecution of hate speech against LGBTQIA+ people through the constitution. De Sutter says: “It is well known that hate speech often precedes violence. That is why we insist on this point.”
At European level, the Greens demand “a strong anti-discrimination law”. It must “protect everyone in Europe”. In Italy, among other places, LGBTQIA+ rights are being put under pressure by the government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
In our own foreign policy and development cooperation, special attention must be paid to countries where LGBTQIA+ people are persecuted. Naji: “In at least seven countries you get the death penalty if you have sex with someone of the same sex, and in nine countries you end up behind bars for life. Our diplomats and aid workers must protect those LGBTQIA+ people.”
Vlaams Belang
The Rainbow Plan reads as a response to Vlaams Belang’s proposals regarding gender.
In its election manifesto, the far-right party calls for, among other things, “an independent investigation into the presence of the woke ideology in the entire Flemish education sector, because it leads to (self)censorship”. In an older brochure, Vlaams Belang also talks about the arrival of a “disciplinary committee” that must act in cases of “censorship”, in addition to a “woke reporting center to protect students against excesses”.
De Sutter, who opted for a gender-affirming transition at the age of 40, has said several times that she sees the VB program around woke as a personal attack.
Tags: Correct information strong signal Groen include gender diversity Flemish curricula
