Italy

2025

2022

2018

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

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

Anti-LGBTQI Measures

There have been no legislative changes in Italy since 2022 that relate to education and SOGIGESC issues and there continues to be no law that would prohibit discrimination in education on SOGIGESC grounds.

The Education Law (2015) calls for the prevention of discrimination, but does not mention SOGIGESC. The Law for the protection of minors and prevention and control of the phenomenon of cyberbullying (2017) does not mention SOGIGESC either. Some regions have local laws in place against bias-motivated discrimination on the basis of SOGIGE. For instance, the Campania Region approved the Regional Law 37/2020, establishing rules against violence and discrimination determined by sexual orientation or gender identity. Moreover, the Emilia-Romagna Region adopted the Regional Law 15/2019 against discrimination and violence determined by sexual orientation or gender identity, and the Umbria Region approved the Regional Law 3/2017 against discrimination and violence determined by sexual orientation and gender identity.

There is no evidence of laws and policies prohibiting the discussion of LGBTQI issues in schools.

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 importance of supporting students in the development of their identity is set out in a number of documents (2012, 2018), but without specific reference to SOGIGESC. A 2015 Education Protocol states that schools should not promote specific “ideologies”. The 2017 national guidelines on gender equality and prevention of gender-based violence, call for an affirmative approach to sexual orientation in school, but are not binding.

In 2022, the outgoing government adopted a National LGBT+ Strategy for the period of 2022-2025. The Strategy features six key areas, work, safety, health, education and sport, culture and media, monitoring and evaluation, but some have highlighted gaps in terms of indicators, deadlines, and resources. The strategy calls for including specific modules on discrimination against LGBTQI persons into the teaching of civic education. The new government has condemned its adoption.

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

SOGIGESC issues are not part of national curricula, and the extent to which they are discussed depends on individual schools and teachers.

Italy continues to have no mandatory sex and relationship education in place. Some schools cover SRE, often in collaboration with civil society.

‍Civic education is included in the national curriculum for primary and secondary schools, but does not cover SOGIGESC issues.

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.

School Environment and Partnerships

-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

Civil society has reported that there is a growing climate of hate against LGBTQI individuals across Italy, and that LGBTQI spaces are facing scrutiny and violence.

Hate speech and hate crimes remain common and are on the rise in Italy. A wave of homophobic attacks took place within the first month of 2025, with four hate-motivated attacks and hate messages appearing on the doors of the Cassero LGBTQI centre in Bologna.

Hate speech is often pronounced by religious and political leaders alike. In some instances, young people were physically harmed by their families. In 2018, a social media post of a gay man who suffered years of bullying in school went viral and sparked public discussion.

The anti-gender rhetoric has gained more ground over the past years, resulting in anti-LGBTQI public speech.

There is no evidence of national or regional policies prohibiting LGBTQI organisations from meeting on school premises. Whether student clubs and organisations can actually meet on school premises depends on each individual school’s willingness.

There has been increasing public discussion regarding the inclusion and exclusion of LGBTQI issues in the school curriculum. Some have taken on a hateful note, but have not reached the institutional level.

The government does not provide funding, nor actively works in partnership with NGOs in relation to education to support initiatives aimed at fostering inclusive educational environments and promoting the rights and well-being of LGBTQI learners.

Legal Gender Recognition

/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

Legal gender recognition is set out by law and is available to minors, but the process is not based on self-determination. Trans organisations have been calling for a law based on self-determination.

There are no national or regional policies allowing students to use their name and gender in education prior to LGR, but a number of universities have procedures in place. In recent years, some secondary schools have also begun to introduce similar procedures; see for instance in Roma, Latina, Pisa, Venice or Florence. These procedures allow trans students who have not yet completed the LGR procedure and legally changed their names to temporarily pursue education under their gender identity and chosen name.

Data Collection on Bullying and Harassment

/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

The Ministry of Education has oversight over reports of discrimination in schools, but they do not work on anti-LGBTQI cases specifically. Civil society, including Arcigay, gathers data on discrimination and violence. In 2018, the Umbria Regional Education Authority blocked a school survey on bias-motivated bullying, because it included questions on the respondents’ sexual, political, and religious identities. The survey was amended and was carried out later in 2019.

Support Systems for LGBTQI Young People

/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

Schools provide direct support and relief services through in-house psychologists or social service workers. The training they receive is not uniform, and they are only seldom trained on LGBTQI issues.

Civil society organisations provide indirect support services and training to the service providers or external support services. Whether they receive funding from the authorities, is highly dependent on each region.

Information and Guidelines

/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

There are no national guidelines on the provision of information on school grounds.

There is no evidence of national or regional policies prohibiting LGBTQI-related leaflets and posters in the school premises. However, it depends on each individual school’s willingness to share information on SOGIGESC issues. Some schools cooperate with civil society - for instance by taking part in Arcigay’s anti-bullying workshops. Other tools, such as the 2021 “Rainbow School” (“Una Scuola Arcobaleno”) on how to combat anti-LGBTQI bullying, can also be helpful for schools.

Schools should have an anti-bullying policy and action plan in place, but they are not obliged to include anti-LGBTQI bullying in these.

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

Italy has ratified eight of the nine core UN treaties, including the ICESCR and the CRC, which enshrine the right to education. Italy is a member of the European Governmental LGBTI Focal Points Network (as of November 2020) and has signed the 2016 UNESCO Call for Action. During its third UPR cycle, Italy received 17 recommendations on SOGIGESC issues, mostly on combating discrimination.

View the map scored by indicator

Grounds of discrimination

Here is the country's score for 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

/100

2018

42.5

/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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