Peer education as an opportunity for practicing respect for sexual and gender diversity

This thesis asked the research question of how a peer educator intervention about LGBT peers can impact the social acceptance of LGBT people among students in pre-vocational secondary education. It answered the question by conducting two studies about the intervention’s impact on attitudes towards LGB people and its impact on reflections about democratic acting and the relationship between these two concepts. Furthermore, it used process evaluations with peer educators and students to shed light on which activities and content most influence students' attitudes towards LGBT people. Although there were often small or no effects on the relationships between reflections on citizenship and attitudes towards LGB people, the process evaluations show that a peer educator intervention creates conditions of openness and safety. Thus, students feel free to exchange opinions about a contested topic similar to how they would in daily life. Students find this a good way to become aware of their attitudes towards LGBT people and learn new information on an intimate subject.