[LMBTQ+ youngsters and their families].

Abstract

Regardless of sexual orientation, we are all socialised in a heteronormative culture and society. 85% of LGBTQ+ people are aware of their sexual identity before the age of 18, and like members of minority groups in general, they are regularly subjected to microaggressions, possibly overt verbal and/or physical abuse and discrimination. One of the most common settings for this is school. If school is left out of sexual education as a socialisation medium and as a representation of society for the child, the family - and the LGBTQ+ child in it - is left with a heavy burden. The tabooed LGBTQ+ sexuality, excluded from the discourse of public education, reinforces the invisibility of these young people, increasing shame, guilt, feelings of stigma, isolation - with consequent feelings of nonconformity and mental illness. Given that the knowledge, attitudes, orientations and skills of the family members involved are often limited or prejudiced, and that children spend a large part of their lives at school, the family is not the only medium for education and support for identity development, and often the family itself needs support.