'Gender propaganda' sex education is banned from primary schools in Italy

Published: 14:14, 5 June 2026 | Updated: 14:18, 5 June 2026 Sex education has been banned from being taught in primary schools in Italy after a new law was passed this week. It is also prohibited in nurseries and schools will be required to inform and gain consent from families at least seven days in advance for the classes being offered. They must also tell parents of any specialists or organisations not part of the school which will be participating in the sessions. The new regulation has sparked criticism from left-wing parties who said sex education should be treated like any other class. But the right-wing Education Minister Valditara, backed the reform and said it aims to protect minors from 'gender propaganda'. He added that it strengthened the right for parents to have authority over their children's care and are ultimately the ones responsible for raising them. The center-right coalition welcomed the new law and said parents have the right to have a say in their children's education and reject any programmes which they deem inappropriate.  Sex education is not a compulsory part of the school curriculum in Italy. However, the subject is commonly taught in most other European countries.  Right-wing Education Minister Valditara, backed the reform and said it aims to protect minors from 'gender propaganda' (seen in 2025) In France, the law demands that schools teach three sexual health classes per year from the ages of three to 17 years old. Last year, the country mandated that schools introduce topics such as consent, gender identity and online pornography. However, it was met with backlash from right-wing parents and figures. 'Sex education is not in the best interest of children,' said SOS Education, a conservative group linked to the Church, which gathered more than 80,000 signatures against the reform. Following the petition, new guidelines stated that gender identity discussions will only take place in high school.  No comments have so far been submitted. Why not be the first to send us your thoughts, or debate this issue live on our message boards. By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual. Do you want to automatically post your MailOnline comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to MailOnline as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on MailOnline. To do this we will link your MailOnline account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.