Nicolai:
Walking into the queer sexual education program, I was filled with so much excitement and eagerness to meet other people – queer or not- whose interests aligned with mine, to spend the next week and a half in the same room with them and connect. The joyfulness that this project brought really was what everyone was searching for in this world of conservatism and judgment. Applying for this program was a decision made with so much confidence, love, and enthusiasm for bringing out a topic taboo to many, and reaching out to so many countries, most of which have slim to no sex education. This was so encouraging for me to see—a topic I was so interested in since I started my medical studies being brought to life in a way that’s so social, so inclusive, in a remote village in the countryside of Latvia, with a bunch of strangers, where all we had to do was discuss, connect, and share our stories, ambitions, and lives.
During the project, we tried to deconstruct so many internalized heteronormative assumptions about everything in general – from the smallest details to everyday life and surroundings. Some of these assumptions we discovered we had inflicted into our personal lives without even noticing it. What was new to everyone was the free space that was created during the project: being able to open up in front of 20 people in a space free of judgment, where we felt at peace. Everyone was eager to learn more and more; the questions never stopped coming, which I think is a measure of how deprived we are of these types of conversations in our daily lives. We all came to the project at different learning levels – some less and some more acquainted with the theme – all with various interests and nerdy obsessions about aspects of the topic, while also being very down to earth and understanding. I went through the program by sharing something with every single one of the participants, from numerous “tea dates” to just a simple “thank you for being here,” from crying on someone’s shoulder about personal problems to just playing a game of badminton in the 30-minute break time between tasks.
In a way, it was like every other Erasmus program: we all shared the desire to connect with each other. But what made this project more special was something we all related to – being misunderstood in some way. Not being able to express ourselves, or doing so but with fear of our surroundings, was definitely something we all collectively responded to. I spent the whole week there without any fear or side judgment from anyone. Instead, all of us bonded through these small “rituals” we created, like painting our nails at night after dinner, or grabbing a drink and finding ourselves with eight strangers on the sofa outside, sharing one blanket, cuddling, and telling dumb stories.
Not only that, but we encountered such gorgeous people from Active Rainbow, who organized everything. They created a safe space that allowed us to have a great time there, provided us with homemade food and medicine, and treated us with kindness and love – which was also followed up after the project. Most of us arrived at the venue with something on our minds, whether a personal or work drama, but the people working there were kind enough to care.
This program provided us with the instruments to work toward a more inclusive community in our local environments. We all knew the challenges beforehand, but finding people resonating with that was the push I believe many of us needed. Our volunteering will continue despite the project, but now we will proceed with the memories we all shared: being in the same villa with the people we met, doing a yoga/tantra session together, having lunch with the homeowner’s cat, sitting cross-legged in the Rainbow Room sharing a laugh, or being in an hour-and-a-half discussion about free speech and gender identity. Everything about that made the project so awesome, and I am thankful to be part of this experience.
Ralitsa Penkova:
In Zvīguļi, magic was flying through every crevice of every wall, shared through sickness and mosquito bites, in every word of every participant, it was a remarkable educational trip filled with laughter and mutual beautiful moments.
To start off with the important takeaways and learning goals of the experience: to be completely, honestly, frank with you, they were only a few that really stuck with me. The training covered some very basic topics, which in my opinion, are very well known by the queer community, especially since education for us is practically non-existent in real life, so a large proportion of us have delved into these topics online. Because of this, multiple topics, such as consent, pleasure, sex vs. gender, etc., felt very redundant. On the other hand, I did also learn a few new things, such as what relationship anarchy is, or the differences between the types of leaning, but I would have definitely enjoyed seeing more less-known topics such as these. Furthermore, the experiences shared through the open space activity were wide-ranged and felt more educational from my point of view, due to the fact that I actually learned new things, such as what chem sex is or how we can reduce harm. In conclusion, I expected more in-depth topics to be covered, but I still appreciated the efforts put in by the facilitators to be as inclusive of everybody as possible, since not everybody can fit into the aforementioned stereotype of “educated queer person”.
On that note, another way I got to learn a lot of new things was by the experiences, outside of the learning part of the trip. To elaborate, feeling the effects of the community being together was probably the most memorable takeaway for me out of the whole 8 days there. I haven’t really experienced queer joy in a community with other queer people, and that felt like a point in my life where I was amongst my type of people, where I could be my own person and that by itself was appreciated, where I could share and have my feelings validated no matter what they are, and I could do the same thing to others and it wouldn’t be considered “cringe”, but would rather be valued and treasured even outside of the project. It felt like there were others that shared my experiences, my feelings and opinions, like I was finally taken for who I am and I didn’t need to quiet myself down to be digestible for others. Alongside this, it was also my first Erasmus+ project, and as a person that loves doing new things, exploring and leaning, this was truly a memorable experience to be remembered, where I could now have an opinion on these projects (definitely a positive one at that). This by itself, made me feel extremely grounded and present during the project, making me want to be even more involved and participate and share even more and more.
Some things really stood out to me from the project, mostly a few set of activities, which I would say were also crowd favourites, such as the event at the end of the project, or the activity with the chairs where we could express ourselves through our clothes and objects, or all the posters which we got to make. Additionally, some activities curated by other members of the team were also quite exciting, such as yoga/meditation classes.
In general, the people and the activities that were there to provide us non-formal, experiential learning were extraordinary and memorable and not only left me feeling fulfilled after participating in such an interesting project, but also send me off with some new knowledge and memories to be remembered. Despite the learning goals not meeting my expectation, I definitely do not regret having been a part of this and will transcend the information I learned into new knowledge, new experiences and new, and old friends, so that the word and spark of the project never dies out!
Karina:
Joining the Erasmus project in Latvia on queer sexual education was eye-opening and inspiring. The programme created a safe and supportive space where we could openly discuss queer inclusion in sex education while also learning from each other’s experiences.
Two moments stood out for me: the chair exercise, where we built a queer museum and celebrated authenticity beyond surface-level introductions, and the pleasure workshop, where I explored sex toys, lubricants, and protection for the first time in such an open, stigma-free way. Both experiences encouraged honesty, vulnerability, and real conversation.
It was also the first time I introduced myself with my preferred name and pronouns from the very beginning—an opportunity that meant a lot to me and one I will always cherish.
Overall, the Erasmus was an amazing experience: the knowledge, the people, and the relationships we built will stay with me for a long time.
