Young LGBTQI people

The Swedish Agency for youth and civil society, MUCF, is one of the government's LGBTQI-strategic agencies. This means that MUCF promotes the equal rights of LGBTQI people, integrates an LGBTQI perspective consistently in all assignments, and carries out efforts for improving the situation for young LGBTQI people. When following young people's living conditions, MUCF examines similarities and differences between different groups of young people, including young LGBTQI people.

Young LGBTQI people’s living conditions

On behalf of the government, MUCF has mapped the living conditions of young LGBTQI people. In the report "Jag är inte ensam, det finns andra som jag" (a summary “I am not alone, there are others like me” is available in English) the main findings are the following:

  • young LGBTQI people have more health problems compared to other young people, this applies above all to mental health issues
  • young LGBTQI people experience harassments at school to a greater extent than other young people
  • many young LGBTQI people refrain from leisure activities for fear of not being fully accepted and welcomed

How can we improve the living conditions of young LGBTQI people?

Much remains to be done in many areas. The conditions at school and during leisure activities need improvement, as well as health care services. Protection against discrimination and other harassments need improvements as well.

As a help along the way, MUCF has developed training kits including manuals and online training courses targeting both teachers and youth workers. The training kits that are presented below are free of charge and only available in Swedish.

Öppna skolan (Open the school) is an online training course addressing norms and inclusion that surround young LGBTQI people (only available in Swedish). The training provides knowledge on how restrictive norms can lead to vulnerability for LGBTQI students, and tools for schools to prevent this by active work on gender roles, heteronormativity and inclusion.

Almost one in four young LGBTQI people have refrained from participating in leisure activities due to fear of being treated poorly. That is why we have developed a training kit and an online training course (only available in Swedish). These methods are designed to support youth workers when promoting participation of LGBTQI people in safe and welcoming leisure activities.