Hello!
We are Ambra, Ross, and Nicolò, the Italian team that participated in the training course “Includ-ed, queering sexual education.” We would like to share our reflections on the experience we just had. It is very exciting to think back on it after almost a month, and to find ourselves together again, even from a distance (since Nico does not live in Bologna), to talk about the magical moments we had.
We realized that it was an interesting opportunity to better understand the concepts of sex education applied to the queer community, which is often not mentioned in standard sex education courses. Above all, learning through non-formal and informal methods gave us the opportunity to learn better and have fun at the same time, allowing us to further deconstruct our approach to education, better understand ourselves, establish our needs and boundaries, and also respect those of the other people who participated in their diversity.
These new, less theoretical and more informal approaches have thus given us different tools to convey already acquired knowledge in a new way.
In particular, the exercises on relational anarchy and consent allowed us to experience, through physical experimentation with the body, theoretical concepts that are sometimes abstract and difficult to understand, also affecting us emotionally.
Another impactful experience was definitely the almost accidental formation of a small queer choir, which allowed me (Ambra) to put my vulnerabilities on the line and turn them into a source of joy, not only for me but also for the people who participated, without any pressure to perform but rather welcoming and valuing all the voices in our community.
It was also wonderful to see the staff moved and actively participating in our activities on an equal horizontal level, despite being the organizers. Seeing that our experiences touched each other is certainly a great asset for everyone.
Also worth mentioning is the organization of the event we performed in Riga, with people outside our project, which allowed us to engage with the local reality and put into practice what we learned during the program, both the artistic and the more conceptual parts.
The less structured moments of socializing were also important and magical, such as “queerovision,” chatting in the hot tub, artistic moments such as creating or coloring our genitals, and not least, petting the affectionate kitten mascot of the venue, always there to remind us what pleasure activism and consent mean ( beware of touching her when she didn’t feel like it anymore!).
We are very grateful to have had the opportunity to live this experience, even though it was sometimes tiring and stressful: it is not always easy to put yourself out there and stay in contact with other people for so long. We hope not only to be able to live many more experiences like this, but also that what this project has given us can be passed on in our communities!
