Voices of Inclusion: LGBTIQA+ Teachers’ Life Stories in Initial Teacher Education

Despite legislative advances supporting the rights of non‑cisheteronormative individuals, European universities continue to exhibit exclusionary dynamics and cisheterosexist structures that render LGBTIQA+ teaching staff both invisible and marginalized. In this context, life stories emerge as an effective pedagogical resource to foster critical reflection and inclusion. This study examines the impact of a training activity based on the life stories of LGBTIQA+ teachers in Primary and Early Childhood Education programs at a public university in Spain. A validated questionnaire with four dimensions—professional identity construction, beliefs about sex‑gender diversity, school context, and training in sex‑gender diversity—was used to collect both qualitative and quantitative data. A total of 108 students participated. Fifty‑five students received an intervention centered on LGBTIQA+ teachers’ life stories (experimental group), while fifty‑three received no intervention (control group). Inferential analyses revealed statistically significant differences between groups across all factors and overall (t = 4.56, p < 0.001), with a large effect size (Hedge’s g = 0.88). Qualitative results indicated that the experimental group demonstrated greater awareness, deeper reflection, and stronger argumentation concerning barriers faced by LGBTIQA+ teachers. These findings suggest that integrating LGBTIQA+ teachers’ life stories can meaningfully enhance teacher education and contribute to more inclusive academic environments.