France

2018

2025

2022

The highest possible score for a country is 100, and the lowest is -15. You can expand the different sections below to understand how the score was calculated for each indicator.

Indicator scores

Anti-Discrimination Legislation Applicable to Education

7.5

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

Anti-LGBTQI Measures

France’s Anti-discrimination law (2008) [159] states that discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity is prohibited in the field of education. According to this law, any person who has experienced direct or indirect discrimination on these grounds can submit the facts to the competent court. The Anti-discrimination law was amended in 2017. The first new article states when a person is treated less favourably than another is, has been, or would have been treated in a comparable situation on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, the latter constitutes a direct discrimination. Indirect discrimination within the meaning of this law occurs when a seemingly neutral provision, criterion or practice places or would place a person in less favourable position. An act of discrimination includes any sexual act committed by a person in order to impair another person’s dignity or to create an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive environment.

Furthermore, the Law on Sexual Harassment (2012) [160] modifies the article 255-1 of the PenalCode stating that any type of distinction made on grounds of “sexual identity” constitutes an act of discrimination.

Policies and Action Plans

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

No anti-bullying policy or national action plan: 0/10 | Anti-bullying policy or national action plan covering one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

The former Ministry of Education was actively engaged in the fight against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, and published a guideline addressed to the teaching staff.The document, entitled Understanding for action: homophobia (2015) [161], urges school staff to act against discrimination on grounds of “sexual identity” in the frame of the School Climate [162]and provides some figures of harassment. The guide contains information about where to address homophobic violence and a specific campaign against homophobia at school (see Information and guidelines).

The Ministry of Education is engaged in the fight against all forms of discrimination including thosecommitted because of sexual orientation or gender identity. Services and resources to prevent,understand, listen and support have been set up for both learners and teachers affected by discrimination. For example, a listening and help service for victims and witnesses of homophobia isin place [163].

Despite these efforts, France currently has no specific policy against bullying on grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression or variations in sex characteristics.

Inclusive Compulsory Education Curricula

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

No evidence of compulsory national curricula inclusive of LGBTQI people: 0/10 | The compulsory national curricula includes representation of one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

There are no national guidelines on how to include LGBTQI inclusive content across curricula, but there is specific information about sexual orientation when it comes to Sex education in schools, colleges and high schools [164]. The Ministry of Education published a circular to establish how the implementation of sex education should take place. According to this document, this subject must be taught in a way that opposes homophobic violence.

Some organisations are accredited by the government as “complementary associations of public education” to design school-based interventions (IMS).

Mandatory Teacher Training on LGBTQI Inclusion

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

No mention of SOGIGESC in the mandatory teacher training programme: 0/10 Mandatory teacher training program with mention of one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

There is currently no mandatory teacher training on LGBTQI awareness. However, the referred SexEducation in schools, colleges and high schools’ circular [164] states that initial and in-service training of staff is one of the components of the steering mechanism of sex education. This training must allow the creation of teams with shared skills, be able to analyse their context and the needs of students, and build up a comprehensive and progressive approach to education.

The Ministry of Education has also established a network of experts to help teachers with their experience of gender equality and LGBTQI issues. The experts receive specific training on these topics and they are supposed to transfer it to other educational staff. Some organisations are also accredited by the government as “complementary associations of public education” to provide training for professionals.

School Environment and Inclusion

7.5

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

Hostile environment

Hostile school environment and no government partnership with civil society: -5/10 | There is no evidence of the government providing funding or working in partnership with civil society: 0/10 | The government provides funding and works in partnership with civil society to promote inclusive education for one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

The Ministry of Education provides support to civil society organisations in the field of education and has signed concrete partnership agreements with those who provide lessons for students or teacher training (see Education curricula and Teacher training). The Ministry of Education and theInter-ministerial mission to combat racism, anti-Semitism and homophobia and transphobia fund civil society organisations to develop concrete actions in the field of education.

Legal Gender Recognition

7.5

/10

Legal gender recognition without self-determination

Legal gender recognition with self-determination (over 16)

Legal gender recognition with self-determination (under 16)

No gender recognition provisions: 0/10 | There are laws and provisions, but with legal/medical/psychological approval: 5/10 | There are laws for self-determination, but only for those over 16 years of age: 7,5/10 | There are laws on gender self-determination, including those under 16 years of age: 10/10

The Law on 21st Century Justice Modernisation (2016) [165] states that any adult or emancipated minor can apply to have their gender corrected in the acts of the civil registry. The person must demonstrate sufficient facts to support their claim. This can be done by demonstrating that they appear in public following the gender identity for which they apply; that they are known in that gender identity to family, friends and colleagues; or that they have changed their name to one of the affirmed sex.Activists state that “this procedure (…) continues to give judges a central role in determining and accepting the validity of an applicant’s gender identity. It is also particularly painful that young persons will continue to be barred from having their gender identity recognized in France”.

The legal provisions drawn from the law of 18 November 2016 have been supplemented by the decree N° 2017-450 of 29 March 2017 relating to the procedures of first name change and sex marker modification in the civil status [167]. This decree also introduces a new section within the Code ofCivil Procedure entitled “The modification of the mention of sex in the acts of civil life”. Articles1055-5 to 1055-9 of the latter Code now govern the subject. The provisions remain the same except for the following “The request for modification of the mention of the sex in civil status documents and the first names belong to matters of grace. The remedies are open to the Public Prosecutor”.

Data Collection on Bullying and Harassment

7.5

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

There is no evidence of national or regional data collection on bullying and harassment in education environments, or SO, GIGE and SC are not specifically mentioned: 0/10 | National or regional data on bullying and harassment in education environments is collected and disaggregated for one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

According to the government, a calm school climate is an essential condition for ensuring the well-being and development of students, and good working conditions. With that perspective, theMinistry of Education collects specific information on the school climate at the national level. This data is not collected systematically, but it offers some specific information. The latest report [168]shows that 30,2% of all complaints of violence have to do with witnessing homophobic insults. The rest of incidents are only segregated by the gender of the person who has declared the act and not by grounds of discrimination.

SOS Homophobia is a civil society organisation which acts as an observatory on violence and publishes an annual report with information in this regard. The latest report (2017) [169] shows that 23%of all physical aggressions were experienced by people under the age of 18 (42% under the age of25). The organisation is supported by the government to do this work.

Support Systems for Young People

7.5

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

There is no evidence of support systems specifically designed for LGBTQI learners: 0/10 | Direct or indirect support systems are provided by schools or local authorities, but the providers lack training in LGBTQI-related issues: 0/10 | Direct or indirect support systems are provided by schools or local authorities for one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

There are several support systems and helplines supported or launched by the government to support LGBTQI learners. For instance, the Youth Health line (www.filsantejeunes.com) was launched by the Ministry of Health to offer an individualised and confidential free listening line for young people and the No to harassment line [170] by the Ministry of Education to provide information to teachers, parents, or learners who have experienced school bullying (see Information and guidelines).

Information and Guidelines

7.5

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

Anti-LGBTQI Measures

Policies prohibiting the presence of LGBTQI-related information are in place: -5/10 | Schools are not required to adopt inclusive education guidelines: 0/10 | Information or guidelines for LGBTQI inclusion adopted by schools that mention one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

The Ministry of Education has developed the programme No to harassment [170] which is aimed to tackle all types of school bullying, but specifically mentions discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity. The site provides several tips and resources addressed to education institutions, such as guidelines for teachers, prevention plans for schools, specific awareness tools and campaigns and links to relevant services. The programme provides a helpline for teachers, parents and learners.

In 2015, the Ministry of Education launched a national campaign to prevent violence and discrimination, and to support victims. The campaign Homophobia has no place at school [171] was developed to tackle the high numbers of learners who had experienced violence because of their sexualorientation, as reported by SOS Homophobia.

International Commitments

/10

Member of the European Governmental LGBTI Focal Points Network

Ratified the UNESCO Ministerial Call to Action

Neither Member in the EFPN or ratification of the UNESCO Call for Action: 0/10 | Member of the EFPN or ratification of the UNESCO Call for Action: 5/10 | Member of the EFPN and ratification of the UNESCO Call for Action: 10/10

France signed the Call for Action by Ministers – Inclusive and equitable education for all learners in an environment free from discrimination and violence.

France is member of the European Governmental LGBTI Focal Points Network.

View the map scored by indicator

Grounds of discrimination

Here is the country's score on each ground of discrimination on which we based our observations for 8 of the 10 indicators presented above.

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

See the map scored by ground of discrimination

Country score evolution

2025

/100

2022

57.5

/100

2018

/100

To enable a meaningful comparison of country progress over time, we have retroactively aligned the scoring systems used in the 2018 and 2022 Editions of IGLYO’s LGBTQI Inclusive Education Index with the updated 2025 scoring criteria.
While each edition of the research has built on the previous one, reflecting evolving standards and priorities in inclusive education, minor changes to indicators and scoring weights were introduced in 2022 and 2025 to improve clarity, consistency, and comprehensiveness.
By recalculating the earlier scores according to the 2025 framework, we have tried to ensure comparability across all three editions and provide a more accurate picture of progress, stagnation, or regression in each country’s approach to LGBTQI-inclusive education.
For this reason, you might find some scores in the PDF Report & Index 2018 and 2022 differing from those on the Education website for these two years.

Good practices

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