Latvia

2025

2022

2018

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

Anti-Discrimination Legislation Applicable to Education

-5

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

Anti-LGBTQI Measures

There have been no legislative changes in Latvia since 2022 that relate to education and SOGIGESC issues.

There are no laws in place that would protect LGBTQI learners from discrimination.

On the contrary, an educational law dating from 2015 requires “moral education” in schools in line with the values of the Latvian Constitution (2014), including with respect to marriage which is being defined as being exclusively between a man and a woman.

Guidelines regarding the implementation of the 2015 education law prohibit sharing materials which feature “propaganda of degrading or immoral activities”, and thus effectively prohibit the discussion of LGBTQI issues in schools.

Policies and Action Plans

/10

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

There are no national policies or action plans to tackle anti-LGBTQI bullying or promote LGBTQI inclusion.

Inclusive Compulsory Education Curricula

/10

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 curriculum does not include references to SOGIGESC topics, nor does it include a sex and relationship subject.

The compulsory curriculum does not include a human rights or civic education curricula.

In 2023, Liene Voronenko, president of the Latvian National Centre for Education was suspended in September after releasing educational materials to help teachers run sex education classes and including information about gender identity and the existence of trans people.

Mandatory Teacher Training on LGBTQI Inclusion

/10

Sexual orientation

Gender identity and expression

Sex characteristics (intersex)

No mention of SOGIGESC in the mandatory teacher training programme: 0/10 Mandatory teacher training program with mention of one ground of discrimination: 5/10 | Two grounds: 7.5/10 | Three grounds: 10/10

There is currently no mandatory teacher training on LGBTQI awareness.

School Environment and Partnerships

-5

/10

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

Student and youth clubs are allowed to meet on school grounds. In theory there is no ban on LGBTQI youth clubs. In practice, it is highly unlikely at primary school level, and only two highschools in the country have formed LGBTQI groups.

In the past years there has been a public opposition to the inclusion of LGBTQI issues in the school curriculum. The debate has taken place mainly in mainstream media following the 2015 education law amendment. They have not taken place at an institutional level.

The Eurobarometer 2019 survey has found that even though acceptance of LGBTQI people in Latvia has slightly increased, the country continued to lag far behind the EU average.

Based on the above information, it would appear that the government does not provide funding, nor actively works in partnership with NGOs to promote LGBTQI inclusive education.

Legal Gender Recognition

/10

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

Legal gender recognition procedures are in place, but not on the basis of self-determination. There is substantial legal uncertainty surrounding the law and in practice the law requires abusive medical requirements.

There are no guidelines allowing students to use their name and gender marker before obtaining legal gender recognition.

Data Collection on Bullying and Harassment

/10

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 government does not collect data on anti-LGBTQI bullying unless the particular incident has been flagged as a “hate crime”. However, civil society reports that cases are rarely prosecuted on the basis of “hate crime” legislation as it requires a higher standard of proof.

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Support Systems for LGBTQI Young People

/10

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

Schools do not provide direct support to LGBTQI learners through school psychologists or counsellors.

Civil society reports that although there is no uniform practice, schools attempt to provide direct support and relief services for victims of bullying. However, not all schools have trained psychologists or social workers and training on LGBTQI topics is done on a voluntary basis.

Furthermore, there are no support services specifically for LGBTQI people at school or local level. Two schools in the capital have formed a Gender and Sexuality Alliance and provide some form of peer support.

There are no indirect support systems.

Information and Guidelines

-5

/10

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

With some rare exceptions, schools tend to not provide information about local communities and social activities or campaigns within their premises through leaflets and posters.

Since the Latvian parliament approved the amendment to the education law requiring ‘moral education’ in schools and prohibiting sharing material which feature ‘propaganda of degrading or immoral activities’ it is very unlikely that schools would distribute any material about LGBTQI topics, especially in rural areas.

Schools are not required to have comprehensive inclusion and anti-bullying policies and action plans.

International Commitments

/10

Member of the European Governmental LGBTI Focal Points Network

Ratified the UNESCO Ministerial Call to Action

Neither Member in the EFPN or ratification of the UNESCO Call for Action: 0/10 | Member of the EFPN or ratification of the UNESCO Call for Action: 5/10 | Member of the EFPN and ratification of the UNESCO Call for Action: 10/10

Latvia has ratified seven of the nine core UN treaties, including the ICESCR and the CRC, which enshrine the right to education. Latvia is a member of the European Governmental LGBTI Focal Points Network (as of November 2020), but has not signed the 2016 UNESCO Call for Action.

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

-5

/100

2022

/100

2018

-5

/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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