LGBTIQA+ inclusion is (also) about language!

Listening services, guidance and tutoring centers are present in all European countries, often within educational settings, healthcare services, and non-profit organizations. These are places dedicated to preventing dropout and addressing deviance and addiction, often serving as the first space for dialogue with children, adolescents, and young adults, as well as with parents, families, and other community actors. They are places where people talk, connect, and help others, facilitating their growth through various tools: from counseling to informal mentoring, from psychology to socio-educational activities.

However, how much attention is dedicated—particularly in the curricula that prepare counselors, psychologists, educators or tutors—to certain topics, such as SOGIESC ones (sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, sexual characteristics)? And not only to sector-specific and technical skills, but more to those transversal, civic, and cultural competencies? The ones that can, for example, improve how we speak, how we address others, and how we interpret reality. Unfortunately, not much.

If we add the fact that our cultural conditions are rapidly changing, that identities, relationships, and people transform day by day, it becomes clear that there is a need for new words, new ideas, and new cultural foundations to truly include those in front of us, especially when our work involves facilitating, advising, and guiding growth and well-being.

Pitch Perfect, therefore, has primarily supported and strengthened the linguistic and communication skills of psychologists, tutors, and counselors on LGBTIQA+ issues, exploring the voices and needs related to identity and sexuality that increasingly emerge in dialogue with adolescents and families, but that rarely find an adequate foundation in the training of counselors and tutors.

During the course of the project, the following materials were produced:

-A training booklet titled "Words Matter", aimed at counselors, psychologists, tutors, educators, and social workers, available in three languages and freely downloadable here:
Words Matter. LGBTIQA+ Inclusion, Language and Communication (English version)
Le Parole Contano. Inclusione LGBTIQA+, Comunicazione e Linguaggio (Italian version)
Woorden doen ertoe. LGBTIQA+-inclusie, taal en communicatie (Dutch version)

-Educational handouts for educators and facilitators, designed to accompany and expand the manual and to support project sustainability and future educational implementations, available in three languages and freely downloadable here:
Facilitator Handouts to support and extend the Words Matter manual (English version)
Schede didattiche per educatricə a supporto del manuale Le Parole Contano (Italian version)
Werkmaterialen voor begeleiders ter ondersteuning en uitbreiding van de handleiding Woorden Doen Ertoe (Dutch version)

-A set of 25 illustrated playing cards plus a narrative introduction, titled "Avventura Queer" (in Italian) and "Queer Quest" (in English and Dutch). The cards are available for free download below (we recommend digital use to reduce the environmental impact of project outcomes. Alternatively, responsible printing on recycled materials in A5 or A6 format is encouraged):
Pitch Perfect’s Illustrated Playing Cards (English version)
Le Carte da Gioco Illustrate di Pitch Perfect (Italian version)
Pitch Perfect’s geïllustreerde speelkaarten (Dutch version)

-Practical instructions and usage guide for the illustrated playing cards, including individual and group exercise models for educators and facilitators, in Italian, English, and Dutch, available here:
Queer Quest, practical guide to using the illustrated card kit (English version)
Avventura Queer, guida pratica all’uso del kit di carte illustrate (Italian version)
Queer Quest, praktische handleiding voor het gebruik van de geïllustreerde kaartenset (Dutch version)

Additionally, the project included:

-A blended learning course delivered from October 2024 to February 2025 by Close in the Distance, aimed at the project’s target audience but open to anyone interested in learning more about inclusive communication (participants also included parents and representatives of partner organizations).
-A series of three experiential and narrative workshops, organized by Stichting Art. 1, held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, in October-December 2024.
-Two creative workshops focused on the playing cards and a final dissemination event, held in Milan by Close in the Distance, in June 2025.
-A concluding dissemination event, held by Stichting Art. 1 in July 2025.

...Along with contributions on EPALE, various informative posts on the partnership’s Instagram profiles, qualitative-quantitative surveys to monitor results and impact, and much more, all available in our Blog section.

Download our flyer here (available in English, Italian, and Dutch)!

One important theme of Pitch Perfect, alongside language, has been visibility: communication isn't only through words but also through images, non-verbal cues, and everything we see and perceive. For this reason, Pitch Perfect also aims to highlight the positive impact that images and creativity can have, serving as a powerful tool for expressing oneself freely and being recognized for who one is, while advocating for one's rights. This goal has been achieved in collaboration with our project partner, the Dutch foundation Stichting Art. 1, which has been working for years to promote the visibility and inclusion of LGBTIQA+ people through media and the arts.

Playing to Include

And what about play? The final part of Pitch Perfect—though by no means the least important— has been the creation of a set of illustrated playing cards inspired by board game culture, digital art, and online artivism. Being inclusive means not only equipping oneself as an individual, learning, and, for example, enhancing and improving one's language and communication skills. It also means, concretely, making physical settings, workplaces, and spaces more inclusive—places where, every day, counselors, psychologists, and tutors welcome, guide, and support young people, disoriented families, and adults in difficult situations.

Why not do it with a visual sign? With a playful object to browse and discuss together? With a dynamic and narrative object that, through its mere presence, will signal even to the most reluctant individuals that they are in a consciously friendly and inclusive space?

Pitch Perfect is the acronym of "enhancing psychologists and counselors’ communicative skills towards LGBTQ people with illustrated playing cards".

Its project code is 2023-1-IT02-KA210-ADU-000152439.

Co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission, it is an Erasmus+ KA210 project (Small-Scale Partnerships) in the field of Adult Education, which started on September 1, 2023. The project will conclude on August 31, 2025.

For this project, Close in the Distance and Stichting Art. 1 received EUR 60,000.00, corresponding to 100% of the total co-funding, from the Italian Erasmus+ National Agency I.N.D.I.R.E.

Following the final evaluation, the Italian National Erasmus+ Agency, INDIRE, selected Pitch Perfect as a Good Practice and highlighted it on Erasmus+ Project Results, the official platform of the European Commission’s Erasmus+ Programme.

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.