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Paper short abstract

This article analyzes school safety for trans youth in Portugal after Law 38/2018, highlighting scarce official data, persistent discrimination, and the negative influence of a conservative government discourse on “gender ideology,” calling for reforms, studies, and action.

Paper long abstract

Although Portuguese legislation regarding minors in gender diversity within the educational context is recent, it is understood that the presence of inclusive policies is associated with the quality of school experiences for trans youth. Through this article, we aim to explore the safety of the school environment for trans children and youth following Law No. 38/2018, enacted on August 7, in Portugal. The analysis of various indicators, based on documentary research of secondary data such as reports from Queer associations, research studies, and statistical data from the National Institute of Statistics, between the years 2019 and 2022, allowed us to verify that there is limited data demonstrating the impact of the law on the school safety of trans youth, and the few available data come from civil society institutions. It was also evident that discrimination persists in education, exacerbated by the conservative political argument of "gender ideology" in schools. It is concluded that the law itself has some gaps and that more national studies are needed to measure its impact on school safety, including an assessment of the current issues faced by these young people, as well as a revision of discriminatory school curricula, without absolving state governments of this responsibility.