Queer Sex Education – A Missed Opportunity
Queer Sex Education – A Missed Opportunity is a photographic, research zine. That wants to start the discussion of the queer exclusivity a whole queer generation faced before the Swedish sex education curriculum changed in late 2022. The zine is made to remind everyone that queer inclusivity has not always been part of the swedish curriculum and that even though queer people is adaptive survivors that has always found a way to flourish and educate themselves about queerisms, they still want to be seen and heard in regards to education as well.
Growing up in a small town without any queer culture was hard for me as a queer person, I knew that I did not fit into the heteronorm but I did not know anything about the culture that I was part of.
This was not anything anyone talked about in the schools in Gävle when I grew up, so it was hard to even come out as anything that did not fit into that heteronormative society.
But part of that experience was also to learn that queer people have always been put to the side of our society and still, somehow flourished when building their own safe communities. Where they educate each other, both old queers and those who just took the brave step to come out, about queer culture, relationships, intimacy and sex. I was also part of making one of these safe queer spaces in my hometown of Gävle, and I do not think that I knew back then how big of an impact I made in that town for young queer people. Before I moved to Kalmar to study, I was very active in RFSL Gävleborg. where I started their youth department and worked as their youth manager and pride planner. Even though that is beautiful in itself, it does not mean that it is all good.
I have, through interviews with my queer peers from Gävle, had a discussion about queer inclusivity in sex education from our school years when we were younger. To start a
discussion with this zine about our exclusivity during this subject, and how that has affected our queer lives in regards to intimacy, pleasure and sex.
Even though the heteronormative society has not always wanted to include us queer people, we still have made it work for us. We are adaptable survivors that will always take care of each other and educate each other. Even if it is through the internet, small queer gatherings or just over a coffee.
The sex education curriculum may have changed recently to be more queer inclusive, but it has not always been that way. We have educated each other with our own personal stories and gathered as much queer information as we could, to make this change happen and show everyone that we exist, and that we want to be heard and seen by everyone. As equals.
Even though the curriculum has changed we still need to fight to make this change stay, and we still need to be open to keep educating ourselves both new and old queer people. But also to keep educating the heteronormative society that we live in, education is a key factor to change.
