Young people have a lot of questions about gender and sexual diversity, but they only rarely receive informed and honest answers. For more than 16 years, the SCHLAU association in North-Rhine Westphalia, Germany, has been organising workshops for young people on issues of gender and sexual diversity. SCHLAU workshops provide an easily accessible introduction for young people to issues of sexual orientation and gender identity, e.g. through explaining concepts and based on selected methods. The personal experience of SCHLAU team members is used to show what gender-based discrimination is and how social exclusion mechanisms work.
Commenting on the importance of teaching social inclusion at an early stage, PES Group member Stefan Engstfeld, Member of the North Rhine-Westphalia Landtag, stressed: "Schools are an important part of the lives of children and young people and teach them about the basic values of living together in society. I believe that you cannot start early enough with teaching core values like tolerance, acceptance and respect. There is no better place to learn how to treat people with respect and to counter discrimination. The SCHLAU NRW network does just that. The young volunteers do important work by tackling widespread prejudices, for example about homosexuality, and by providing children with information on gender diversity and sexual identities. They also have the courage to talk openly, on an equal footing, with children about their gay or lesbian identity and their experience of discrimination."
