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
Primary schools
Denmark’s education policies for both public and private schools are based on learning goals and objectives, rather than specific materials, sources or curricula. Schools and teachers therefore make their own decisions over the exact curriculum taught in a specific institution, and have a very large freedom to do so. The extent to which LGBTQI topics are covered is decided on by teachers individually or in teams. LGBTQI issues are generally covered in Sexual Education (SSF) but are sometimes reflected in materials in other classes, if teachers choose to do so.
The “Health and sex education and family knowledge” (SSF) class was introduced in 2020 and is a mandatory subject in primary schools, and in principle should be integrated into all subjects. Though the learning goals are ambitious and LGBTQI inclusive, the subject is widely criticised and under-prioritised. SSF functions as a class without dedicated hours for teaching, and is not tied to a specific subject: a “class-without-hours". Part of SSF is a “competence-area” named “Gender, Body and Sexuality” which covers a wide range of LGBTQI issues, but civil society reports that this competence area is under prioritised and neglected in many classes and schools, similarly to the entire SSF subject.
Civil society, students and teachers have critiqued SSF since its inception for not having a set number of hours and for its weak integration into the curricula. A 2019 survey showed that by the time of the 7th grade, only 33% of the students had learned about different forms of sexuality, and showed a general severe dissatisfaction with SSF among students, though there are no newer surveys.
A policy change implemented in 2025 has tied the SSF subject to Danish, History, Biology and Nature/Technology. The policy change of 2025 has deregulated SSF and attaches the learning goals to other subjects, in an ambition to counter the many critiques of the subject. This policy change also loosened the obligations tied to the subject, resulting in LGBTQI issues being less regulated. In practice, this may lead to fewer requests for teachers to teach “skill areas” and “knowledge areas” linked to LGBTQI issues. Civil society, including LGBT+ Danmark, have expressed their skepticism with regards to this policy change and doubt whether it will have any positive impact on the teaching of LGBTQI subjects in school. Civil society fears that the deregulation of the subject will mean that this area continues to be under prioritised, maybe even to a larger degree.
The “Gender, Body and Sexuality” competence goal for SSF is still binding for 9th graders as of 2025. According to this competence goal, students should be able to:
- Assess norms and rights for body, gender and sexuality in a civil-societal perspective.
- Analyse gender, body and sexuality in a current, historic and global perspective.
- Have knowledge about cultural and social norms and ideals regarding sexuality, gender and bodies
- Discuss sexual rights in Denmark and globally.
- Have knowledge related to body, gender, sexuality and family.
Between 2023 and 2025, the Danish authorities established a taskforce to strengthen SSF implemented through the project “mitSSF”. This taskforce gathered good practices and different curricula related to sexual education on a website. They also created workshops and networks related to sexual education. This project has however been defunded as of 2025. This taskforce helped to prioritise and strengthen the visibility of LGBTQI subjects in Denmark.
In 2018, the Ministry of Children and Education commissioned LGBT+ Denmark to develop LGBTQI inclusive teaching materials aimed at pupils 12-16 years old. In 2022, the government provided funding to LGBT+ Denmark to create a national volunteer, peer-to-peer and student-oriented teaching program, offering free classes on LGBTQI topics between 2023-202. By 2025, this programme had facilitated around 100 teachings for approximately 3.000 students and their teachers.
Secondary schools
In Denmark, there are many different types of secondary schools, each regulated separately. There is no policy enforcing comprehensive sexuality education or education on LGBTQI topics and inclusion across the board for secondary schools. Curriculum in secondary schools is to a very large degree up to the individual teacher’s and schools’ discretion, and the teaching plans are generally very broad.
As a result of public pressure from a 2022 campaign led by students criticising Denmark’s sexual education, a policy change was enacted in 2023, according to which certain secondary educations (‘gymnasier') have to teach comprehensive sexuality education. This means that more than half of secondary school students in Denmark now receive obligatory comprehensive sexuality education, sometimes covering LGBTQI issues. Civil society has recommended that the draft law should include gender identity and gender expression in its scope, as this was not reflected in the final policy. The secondary schools concerned by this obligation however, still have discretion over the content of their sexual education curriculum. There is no current data on whether LGBTQI education is included in these schools’ comprehensive sexuality education curriculum, but anecdotal evidence suggests that it is sometimes implemented.
Schools such as technical schools, trade schools or other types of vocational schools or special-ed secondary schools are not obliged to teach sexual education or LGBTQI issues.
