Description
The project is based on the contemporary situation in the Czech Republic, where sex education is still usually narrowly focused on sexually-hygienic and medical topics, although human emotions and sexuality are much more complex phenomenon. Topics related to the LGBT people in the project are set in broader framework: what is the normality, what is the source of discrimination, historical changes in our society and variations among cultures in the concept of natural behaviour. The project aims to develop and promote activities aimed at making visible people, groups and issues that relate to the LGBT families, teenagers and senior citizens by means of publicity, education and training. The secondary objective is to increase awareness and acceptance of the so-called majority. Project activities aim to familiarize students and teachers of primary and secondary schools, experts and social workers with the life of the LGBT people and with changes and reasons why we tend to classify someone as a member of a group of gender minorities. Planned project outputs: tools for training in LGBT i.e. methodologies for schools, senior facilities and accredited courses. Organization cooperates with LHH Bergen that is interested in the long term in the theme of education of various target groups and LGBT seniors in Norway.
Summary of project results
In the discourse on human rights, the interest in life and problems of LGBT people is not new. However, there is a considerable diversity within the LGBT+ community which often leads to invisibility of certain groups. For this reason we implemented the project ‘Invisible Minorities’. Among invisible minorities encountering LGBT-related problems during their lives are adolescents, families and seniors. Our project paid attention especially to these groups. The main goal of the project was to make the selected LGBT groups (adolescents, families and seniors) more visible, through a target group of professionals and educational and public enlightenment activities. The secondary goal was to draw attention to the problems which are specific to LGBT in order to increase the acceptance and awareness of the so-called majority society. From the long-term point of view, the project is ground-breaking because the methodical materials which were created allow for further development of the concerned topics. During the project, the following activities took place: educational activities for the pupils of elementary schools, secondary schools, vocational schools and secondary grammar schools; seminar for future specialists; four seminars for social worker experts; two seminars for pedagogical workers and two seminars for workers from services for seniors. An important part of the project was a research on LGBT seniors whose findings were presented in two seminars, at press conference and in a round table for experts. During the project we supported 1,125 pupils, 111 future professionals, 140 social and pedagogical workers and workers in facilities for seniors, we created four printed methodical materials, whereof one for pedagogical workers, one for workers in services for seniors, one for future professionals and one comics for pupils. Another output was an online methodical paper for pedagogues which was published on a website.
Summary of bilateral results
As part of the bilateral cooperation, two workshops were organised, increasing the know-how of our organisation. The first workshop took place in Prague in August 2015 with participation of representatives of LHH Bergen, the partner organisation. The date was chosen with respect to the term of the Prague Pride parade that the partners attended. They were members in the panel discussion on the LGBT issues in Scandinavian countries moderated by the statutory representative of the organisation, Zdeněk Sloboda. Together with the other members of the PROUD organisation, they participated in the programme. Thanks to it, relationships with the representatives of the partner organisation became less formal. The workshop focused on activities of the partner organisation in general. Special attention was paid to the area of migrants in the context of the LGBT community, the system of education on LGBT issues in Norway, and LGBT elder adults. The new information included especially the information concerning relationships between LLH Bergen and the Norwegian government and its influence on the activities of LHH Bergen. The second workshop took place in Bergen. It was attended by representatives of PROUD, Zdeněk Sloboda, Jolana Novotná and Petr Pávek. Each of them represented one of the areas solved under the project – parenthood, education and LGBT elder adults. The common activities of the organisations resulted in a strategic and fundraising plan that was drawn up for the upcoming period. The partners also enriched our organisation with their experience in the area of working with LGBT elder adults.