LGBTQI Inclusive Education Map

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

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

Finland’s first National Child Strategy was published in 2021. The Implementation Plan for the National Child Strategy involved one measure concerning LGBTQI children, namely: “Preparing a training package on sexual orientation and gender diversity and LGBT families for professionals.” This measure was implemented by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare in cooperation with NGO Seta – LGBTI Rights in Finland. The material aims to enhance professionals’ skills in encountering LGBTQI children and youth, support their well-being and inclusion and help in recognising societal norms around gender and sexuality. In addition, an online training on the rights of vulnerable children was produced as part of the implementation of the strategy.

The Action Plan for the Prevention of Violence against Children 2020–2025 included a specific chapter and action points to address violence against children and youth based on their actual or perceived SOGIGESC. According to the 2020–2023 interim evaluation of the action plan, implementation of these measures has progressed.

In January 2021, an Action Plan to Prevent Bullying, Violence, and Harassment in Early Childhood Education, Schools, and Educational Institutions was adopted. As part of the program, certain regulatory changes concerning disciplinary measures came into force in August 2022. The action plan did not specifically address SOGIGESC bias-motivated bullying.

After media reports of past racist writings and speeches by several ministers of the Finns Party, the Government adopted an equality statement and an action plan to combat racism and promote equality, which include a provision of launching an equality and non-discrimination program covering the entire education system in 2024–2025. As a part of the program, in November 2024 the Minister of Education hosted a roundtable discussion with CSOs representing different minority groups, including Seta – LGBTI Rights in Finland. According to the action plan, a study will be conducted to support gender equality and non-discrimination plans in ECEC. The provisions do not explicitly address SOGIGESC.

The Government Action Plan for Gender Equality 2020–2023 included six policy measures to promote gender equality in school education and ECEC. However, the measures did not explicitly address SOGIGESC. The new Government Action Plan for Gender Equality 2024–2027 was adopted in February 2025. The plan covers four policy measures to promote gender equality in education, including combating all forms of bullying, harassment and discrimination in schools that are based on personal characteristics, such as gender or sexual orientation, and ensuring educators receive sufficient knowledge and skills to these efforts.

The Ministry of Justice has continued supporting the municipal and other public officials’ equality planning practices through the 2021–2023 Drivers of Equality and the 2023–2024 Well Planned projects. The projects have developed online training, produced targeted materials and promoted networking of equality actors. Moreover, the Ministry has implemented the 2023–2024 Peer Action Against Hate and the 2021–2023 Capable projects to strengthen work against hate crimes and hate speech. Overall, the work against discrimination, hate crimes and hate speech remains fragmented, project-based and chronically under-resourced.

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

The national basic education core curriculum (2014) states that basic education should increase knowledge and understanding of the diversity of gender and aim at creating an environment that allows challenging gender stereotypes. All education should be gender aware. The curriculum recognises that children develop their understanding of their gender identity and sexuality during their years in basic education, and states that the school should support this development. According to the general goals of the core curriculum of general upper secondary education (2019), understanding the diversity of gender and sexual orientations creates conditions for gender-sensitive education.

The national core curricula include sex and relationship education in health education, psychology, biology and secular ethics classes, but not as a specific subject. The basic education curriculum for health education states that in grades 7 to 9 (13–16 years old) sexual diversity should be included in health education classes. There are no other specific mentions of sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, or sex characteristics in the basic education curriculum. The national core curricula for general upper secondary education include diversity of gender and sexual orientation as a core content in an obligatory course on secular ethics and an optional course in psychology. According to the NGOs, the quality of sex education varies within the country and norm-critical approaches should be strengthened.

Finland’s education system has no specific human rights subject. Nevertheless, according to the national core curricula, human rights are one of the core values in education and should be integrated into the overall teaching. However, this human rights curriculum does not explicitly address SOGIGESC and the rights of LGBTQI people.

The national qualification requirements for vocational and educational training generally lack provisions of SOGIGESC. However, following the principles of equity and equality is included as a goal of the common unit “Operating as a member of society and a citizen”.

According to the national core curriculum for ECEC (2022), ECEC is gender sensitive and attitudes related to gender and its diversity should be considered in the development of the operational culture, and exploring the diversity of people, genders and families is included in the contents of the pedagogical activities in ECEC.

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

There has been a significant shift in LGBTQI policies in Finland since the coalition between the moderate right-wing National Coalition Party, the right-wing populist True Finns, Christian conservative Christian Democrats and the liberal Swedish People’s Party, appointed in 2023. The government program has no explicit mention of promoting LGBTQI rights.

The EU LGBTIQ Survey III (2022), conducted by the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), includes findings of the experiences of discrimination faced by Finnish LGBTIQ youth. The survey results indicate that discrimination remains widespread among the LGBTIQ youth from the age of 15 to 17. 16% of the Finnish survey respondents belonging to this age group had felt discriminated in educational institutions in the past 12 months. Experiences were most common among trans men, with 43% reporting having felt discrimination. 60% of the respondents were rarely or never open about being LGBTIQ at school. 54% reported experiences of bullying by their schoolmates and 7% by their teachers. 55% of the respondents had experienced support, defense or protection from someone as an LGBTIQ person at school.

In 2023, the city of Helsinki rolled out Rainbow Workshops to all sixth-to-ninth graders in the city’s schools. The project was a result of the city’s participatory budgeting process where citizens can make proposals into the city’s budget. The city chose Seta as the service provider to design and implement the workshops. The workshops included a short lecture on basic LGBTQI information, as well as discussion tasks focusing on norm awareness. These workshops sparked public discussion and debate in the Finnish media, and prompted an anti-gender initiative from a group of Finnish MPs that aimed to “remove gender ideological teaching” from schools, which did not result in changes.

Based on the Rainbow Workshops, the Regional State Administrative Agency for Western and Inland Finland commissioned Seta to create video materials of similar contents. In cooperation, the agency and Seta created videos for 5^th and 6^th graders and 7^th to 9^th graders respectively as well as separate instruction videos for teachers and a basic lecture on the topic for teachers to watch before using the materials. These materials are freely available to teachers, pupils and parents alike on a website hosted by the Administrative Agency.

Some of Seta’s local member organisations provide school visits, where volunteers from the organisation visit a classroom and discuss LGBTIQI topics with students. These visits are always initiated by an invitation from the school staff. The visits can involve general information on LGBTQI topics, as well as the volunteers’ own experience-based stories on living as a member of a sexual and/or gender minority. In 2025, Seta provided its member organisations with new materials and training for conducting school visits. Some of Seta’s member organisations will pilot test these new materials in upcoming school visits and Seta will gather feedback from the teachers, students and school visitors. This project aims to standardise the quality and the contents of the school visits across Finland.

The above information included in this report demonstrates that the government provides funding and actively works in partnership with NGOs in relation to education. This includes support for initiatives aimed at fostering inclusive educational environments and promoting the rights and well-being of LGBTQI learners.

There are Student Councils in schools but no separate thematic student clubs. Some schools organise LGBTIQ-themed activities during the breaks of the school day. In Finland, there is no culture of extracurricular activities. Other factors affecting the school environment and inclusion and data on the wellbeing of LGBTQI children and young people can be found above in this document.

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

In 2023, Finland introduced a legal gender recognition (LGR) procedure based on self-determination, ending the requirement of sterility and mandatory psychiatric diagnosis. The new law includes a 30-day reflection period and sets the maximum number of changes in legal gender at one per year, unless “for a particularly compelling reason”. No gender marker options beyond male and female are provided.

The law sets a minimum age requirement at 18 and over. When accepting the new law, the Parliament adopted a statement requiring the Government to assess and prepare necessary regulatory changes to promote transgender children and youth’s right to self-determination in gender recognition. So far, no measures have been taken and they are unlikely to happen during the current governmental period, as no such measures were mentioned in the government programme.

The 2019–2023 government program included a provision to change the personal identity number to a gender-neutral system, but the reform did not progress. Thus, the Finnish personal identity number still carries information on the individual’s legal gender, and anyone changing their legal gender marker also gets a new personal identity number, which creates further bureaucracy.

According to the Act on Forenames and Surnames which entered into force in 2019, people can change their name through an administrative procedure. Any of the persons forenames can now be male-associated, female-associated, gender neutral, or any combination of the above. The law does not require prior legal gender recognition, and children and young people can access the procedure with parental or guardian’s consent. From the age of 15 to 18, if the young person’s position conflicts with the parent’s position, the young person’s position will be considered decisive.

People who change their legal name and/or gender marker have the right to receive their education diplomas, graduation certificates and other relevant transcripts assigned to their new name and/or new legal gender. (The legal gender marker is visible in the certificates and other transcripts due to the Finnish personal identification number, which contains coded information about the person’s legal gender.) The updated document cannot show any signs of the change that has been made, and it must be dated to the date of the original document. This is to protect trans people from having to disclose their identity and background e.g. while applying for further studies or employment. The Finnish National Agency for Education has given a clear and informative statement on this.

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 School Health Promotion (SHP) study monitors the well-being, health, and school work of Finnish children and adolescents. The aim of the SHP study is to strengthen the planning and evaluation of health promotion activities at school, municipal and national levels. For the academic year 2017, the SHP study included a question about sexual orientation and gender identity. However, the question concerning gender identity was poorly formulated, so the data collected did not give comparative data regarding gender minorities. In the 2019 study the wording was improved and data for both sexual orientation and gender identity were collected.

Cumulative data is available from 2019 onward on the sexual orientation and gender identity of adolescents who participate in the SHP study. The data is collected every two years. The questions about sexual orientation and gender identity are included in the surveys aimed at 8^th and 9^th graders in basic education (14–16 years old) and 1^st and 2^nd year students in upper secondary school (17–19 years old). The survey aimed at 4^th and 5^th graders in basic education (9–11 years old) introduced the question about gender identity for the first time in 2023; the question about sexual orientation has not been included in the survey for this age group.

A collective report examining trends displayed in the SHP study in the wellbeing and health of 8^th and 9^th graders in basic education (14–16 years old) who reported being part of a sexual or gender minority was published in 2024. The number of youth who reported being part of a sexual and/or gender minority increased in the four-year period, from 8,5% (2019) to 14,0% (2023) for sexual minorities and 3,5% (2019) to 5,5% (2023) for gender minorities. Published results of the SHP study for the year 2023 included tables differentiating children and youth who are part of sexual minorities and gender minorities.

The data highlights significant decline in almost all areas of health and wellbeing that was explored in the survey during the time period 2021–2023, which included the COVID-19 pandemic. The physical and mental health and wellbeing of sexual and gender minorities was significantly lower than cisgender and heterosexual respondents (44–57% of gender minority youth and 44–49% of sexual minority youth experienced their health as poor or moderate).

Similar trends displaying poorer results for sexual and gender diverse youth emerged from the data in relation to experiences of life satisfaction, loneliness, practicing physical exercise, school burnout and absence from school. Sexual and gender diverse youth experience more bullying and sexual harassment than others, showing an increase in these experiences from 2019 to 2023. 14–22% of gender minority youth and 10–16% of sexual minority youth experienced bullying at least once a week, 56–62% of gender minority youth and 50–55% of sexual minority youth experienced discrimination in both school and leisure time. Experiences of sexual harassment were reported by 34–45% of gender diverse youth and 37–48% of sexual minorities.

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

The newly implemented Finnish welfare services counties are responsible for student welfare and support services since their implementation in 2023. Although the services are mostly well in place and accessible, the responsible professionals are not always trained on SOGIGESC issues and how to work with sexual and gender minorities in a sensitive manner. Civil society reports that this often results in a lack of expertise in matters concerning discrimination and equality.

The introduction of welfare services counties also means that the school welfare staff now works under a different organisation than the teaching staff; the welfare staff (school nurses, doctors, psychologists and social workers) work for the welfare services county, whereas the teaching staff is employed by the municipality. Due to large scale funding cuts in the welfare services counties, there is a risk of insufficient resources and inequality between students in different welfare services counties.

As part of the National Mental Health Strategy 2020–2030 and the Programme for Suicide Prevention, the 2023–2024 Gender Diversity as a Positive Resource (Sukupuolen moninaisuus voimavaraksi) project was implemented. The project aimed to promote timely and resource-oriented support and care for youth belonging to gender minorities, as well as to improve the functionality of service chains and the cooperation of different actors.

There are several support systems for LGBTQI learners provided by civil society organisations. Seta’s Gender Diversity & Intersex Centre of Expertise offers support to young people regarding gender identity and expression and variations in sex characteristics but not sexual orientation. The Centre has limited resources and is not able to meet the current demand.

Seta has local member organisations, some of which receive state or local authority funding and are able to provide support services. However, this coverage is incomplete.

Pirkanmaan Seta – Sinuiksi (another CSO and Seta’s member organisation) runs a national support service (phone line and online chats) for anyone who has questions or concerns regarding their sexual orientation or around the topic of sexual diversity. Seta and Sinuiksi both receive state funding, but they cannot be considered general support systems that are available for all who need them. Changes and cuts are expected to the state funding of social and health care CSOs in the coming years, which might pose a risk to the continuity and coverage of these services.

The Sense of Belonging project, run by the Deaconess Foundation, Gender Diversity & Intersex Centre of Expertise and Helsinki Pride Community, promotes the wellbeing of LGBTQI youth aged 16–29 and offers them support in their work and education paths. The project produces materials and organises trainings for professionals and employers working with youth, as well as offers direct support services to LGBTIQ+ children and youth and their families.

Nyyti Ry, a leading civil society organisation for promoting student mental health in all higher education institutions in Finland, organised a three-year QueerMieli project (2024–2026) promoting mental health among LGBTQI students. The project includes various peer support activities and training for personnel in higher education and for active student societies.

Sateenkaariopettajat Ry (Rainbow Teachers), a registered civil society association for LGBTQI teachers and educators, was founded in 2023, providing peer support and networking for example in the form of an online community and discussion events. Their aims include normalizing LGBTQI visibility in schools, reducing discrimination in educational institutions and initiating public conversation.

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 Non-Discrimination and Gender Equality Acts not only prohibit discrimination, but also place the duty to promote equality and non-discrimination on all public authorities. Implementation of this duty includes the obligation for each education provider to create a non-discrimination and equality plan. These non-discrimination and equality plans must include a review of the current situation at the education institution, an action plan on promoting equality and preventing harassment and discrimination, and an assessment on the execution of the previous plan. The plans must be updated yearly or at least every three years. The planning obligation was extended to early childhood education and care (ECEC) from June 2023.

In 2025, the Non-Discrimination Act was revised, leading to a weakening of the implementation of the duty to promote non-discrimination in ECEC. ECEC providers no longer need to create non-discrimination and equality plans for each education facility separately. Instead, the municipality or the company providing the early childhood education can create a joint plan for all of its facilities.

Studies suggest that schools do not fully comply with their legal obligations and are at different stages with regards to their planning obligations. Moreover, the provisions of the Non-Discrimination Act are still not known well enough and equality authorities are lacking resources to oversee the implementation of the planning obligation in education institutions.

Seta provides, supported by the government, information for young LGBTQI people through equality resources, training courses and other cooperation.

Seta offers a wide range of information (for example guides and videos for schools and teachers) to different societal actors. There has been a rise in the number of LGBTQI organisations in Finland over the past years and this has increased the variety of information available. Increasing numbers of national and local authorities are including and producing more SOGIGESC specific research and guidelines.

Providing information is not prohibited anywhere in Finland, but there have been instances where students’ access to LGBTQI-specific materials has been curtailed. There have also been localised and online campaigns against the teaching of LGBTQI topics in schools or against allowing Seta’s member organisations’ volunteers to visit schools, despite them being invited by teachers.

In 2022, a report on the state of education on intersex traits and variations of sex characteristics in Finland was published by the Dublin City University, including recommendations for future progress in the field.

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

72.5

/100

2022

/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.
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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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72.5

/100

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YEAR

72.5

/100

2022

Europe Average

30.6

/100

European Union Average

41.6

/100