Sexuality, religion, and education: (Re)production of culturalist discourse in sexual diversity education in the Netherlands

Abstract

This chapter examines the oppositional pairing of religion and sexual diversity in Dutch sexual diversity education. As education co-constructs the meaning of the "nation," the state'susage of teaching programs to advance the well-being of LGBTQ+ citizens causes citizenship development and sexual emancipation to converge in education. Using a critical discourse analytical approach, this chapter analyzes how six sources offering teaching methods and policy guidance on sexual diversity education frame sexuality in relation to religion, culture, and citizenship. We demonstrate that these sources include particular understandings of sexuality, dissociate sexuality from religious experience and race, and treat the presence of religious or so-called "immigrant" students as a threat to LGBTQ+ students. This chapter foregrounds how sexual diversity education reinstates culturalist understandings of the nation and of sexual diversity and recommends teaching methods and practices to engage with other forms of difference and experiences of oppression.