Diversidade, educação e potência de vida: narrativas LGBTI+ na Faculdade de Educação da Universidade Federal do Ceará

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze how access to and retention in higher education contribute to the enhancement and empowerment of LGBTI+ students, considering their academic and social experiences in the university context. The research subjects were undergraduate students regularly enrolled in the Pedagogy course at the Federal University of Ceará (UFC) who identify as LGBTI+. The investigation was carried out at the Faculty of Education (FACED), located at the Humanities Center I, on the Benfica Campus, in Fortaleza, Ceará. The research adopted a qualitative approach and used Oral History as the central methodology of the study. In this work, memory and orality were the main sources of information, and a script of questions guided by open semi-structured interviews was used as a data collection tool. The analysis of the narratives showed that access to and, above all, permanence in higher education go beyond purely administrative or academic dimensions, constituting processes marked by emotions, support networks, symbolic disputes, and subjective reinventions. The students' experiences revealed that entering and remaining in university involves facing social inequalities, symbolic violence, and institutional silencing, but also building a sense of belonging, recognition, and plans for the future. The university emerged as an ambiguous space, simultaneously marked by tensions and potential, in which student assistance policies, institutional programs, collectives, and affective relationships proved fundamental to sustaining life during the educational journey. It was also observed that training in Pedagogy constituted a territory for identity development, ethical-political commitment, and the production of situated knowledge, especially in the absence of systematic discussions about gender and sexuality in the curriculum. It was concluded that higher education, when committed to diversity and care, can act as a space for valuing and empowering the lives of LGBTI+ students, requiring institutions to adopt an ethical, political, and educational stance oriented toward inclusion, recognition, and dignity for pluralistic existences.