Childhood is a place of strong socio-cultural investment in all developmental processes, including issues are related with gender and sexuality. The pathologisation of trans identities, also reflected in childhood, will characterise the way of looking at and supporting LGBTI+ and gender diverse childhood. Consequently, spaces such as school or families are permeable to moral panic when cis-heteronormative values are transgressed. Based on the results of the research project Colourfull Childhoods, funded by the European Commission between 2022 and 2024 and focused on the reality of LGBTQI+ children during the Covid-19 pandemic this communication aims to extend the reflection on anti-gender discourses and practices and how these intersect with adult-centric systems of thought that devalue the experiences of children and young people. Knowing the perspectives of the different actors involved, especially children, is a fundamental step to adjust the implementation, monitoring and enforcement of laws and measures that aim to ensure equality and non-discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and sexual characteristics. Starting from the ongoing European project Colourfull Childhoods, in which we adopted a mixed methodology involving children from 12 years old and professionals from different childcare services, the communication is divided into three parts. We start with a brief background on LGBTI+ childhood policies in Portugal, to then report on the results of our project. These results allow us, in the third and last part, to identify needs, community resilience strategies and good practices as affirmative action measures in LGBTI+ mainstreaming, but also the gaps and obstacles affecting the daily lives of LGBTI+ children and young people in Portugal. In sum, our research demonstrates the urgent need for sustained work that promotes a child-centred perspective and contributes to dismantling anti-gender discourses and other violence, reinforcing Portugal's alignment with best practices in equality and non-discrimination.

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