We’re Here, We’re Queer…but Are We in Schools? Lessons Learned from a Multicountry Project Across Eastern and Southern Africa

Abstract

Queer civil society organizations (CSOs) in Southern Africa have been excluded from engaging in school-based advocacy as a result of systemic homophobia and transphobia in society broadly and in the education sector but this situation has begun to change in recent years. An example of this work is a Participatory Action Research informed partnership between researchers and CSOs in ten countries across Eastern and Southern Africa. The “School’s Out” project focused on the capacitation of CSOs to engage in sexual and reproductive health work in schools with a focus on sexual and gender diversity. Thematic findings emerging from the project data point to the need for multi-stakeholder dialogue and convening around issues of sexual and gender diversity in schooling; greater focus on education policy by LGBTI CSOs; sensitizing educators to issues of diversity; direct engagement with the determining role of cultural norms in relation to gender and sexuality; and greater understanding of the education sector as a whole.