A history of LGBTQI+ rights in Scandinavia – everything you need to know

What was meant to be an expansive year of joyous Pride events, after a period of pandemic constraints, took an unfortunate and harrowing turn. On the 50th anniversary of the legalisation of homosexuality in Norway, people up and down the country and across the Nordics should have been reminiscing with a smile, but after a terrorist attack in Oslo’s London Pub in the early hours of June 25, the region is mourning the victims who were tragically killed, injured and innocently targeted.

“The shooting put an end to the Pride parade, but it did not stop the fight and the efforts to fight discrimination, prejudice and hatred,” said Norwegian Prime Minister, Jonas Gahr Stoere, during a memorial service for the victims. Further pride celebrations were formally cancelled on police advice concerning the safety and welfare of attendees, but this did not stop hundreds from gathering near the scene later that day to pay their respects and show support for LGBTQI+ people. “We’re here, we’re queer, we won’t disappear,” echoed through the streets of Oslo.

Questions concerning the safety of and support towards LGBTIQ+ people have risen in prominence. Scandinavia consistently performs well in the index of 150 countries' friendliness towards LGBTIQ+ travellers and in many ways the region champions inclusivity. Despite these ratings, a new level of disbelief has been reached alongside a need to learn, speak and do more to support the rights of our friends, family, partners, colleagues, neighbours and the people we pass everyday on the streets. A clear disparity still remains.

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In the spirit of expanding awareness and doing better, below we walk through a brief history of LGBTQI+ rights in Scandinavia to examine how far we’ve come, to celebrate the achievements and reflect on the challenges still faced.

Denmark’s first LGBT organisation was founded in 1948 under the name Kredsen af 1948, and since then, many steps have been taken to attain the necessary rights for the Danish LGBTQI+ community. In 1951, the first successful gender reassignment surgery took place in Copenhagen. The next step was taken in 1989 when Denmark became the first country in the world to legalise same-sex partnerships, and in the summer of 2012, the law for same-sex marriage was passed. Just before this legalisation, same-sex couples were granted the right to jointly adopt in 2010.

In 2016, the Danish parliament removed transgender identity from the national board of health’s list of mental illnesses, being the second country to do so. And from 2017 onwards, Danish passports are available with an “x” sex descriptor.

With this said, to secure more specific freedoms and dignities, more change is needed. For starters, there are no laws in place against hate speech or crimes on gender identity. Conversion therapy also continues as a legalised practice. And in a 2019 study, 9 per cent of homosexuals felt they couldn’t be open about their sexual orientation at work and 8 per cent also stated that they had been the victim of discrimination and harassment.

Norway is considered one of the most LGBT-friendly nations and with its rising secularisation it has a high societal acceptance towards the community. In 1981, Norway enacted an anti-discrimation law that explicitly included sexual orientation, making it one of the first countries in the world to do so. Later on in 2009, same-sex marriage and adoption were legalised. Assisted insemination treatments for same-sex couples were legalised the same year.

Norway quickly became the fourth country in Europe to legalise gender change for transgender people solely based on self-determination. While hate speech against same-sex relations was criminalised in 1981, the Storting amended Norway’s hate speech law in 2020 to protect bisexual and transgender individuals.

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As we have recently witnessed, support and rights for the LGBTQI+ community in Norway poses a challenge. Following the terrorist attack in Oslo, presenter and stylist, Janka Polliani, shared an Instagram post as a message of sorrow and support, showing a picture of herself and her friend Darja Barannik embraced in a kiss. She later took to her instagram stories saying that her post triggered over one thousand unfollows.

Non-binary gender recognition is not yet legal in Norway, while men who have had relations with other men require a one year deferral before donating blood and are otherwise banned. Commercial surrogacy for same-sex male couples is also not allowed at present.

Sweden was the first country in the world to permit transgender people to legally change their gender post-sex reassignment surgery in 1972. Two decades later, the right for same-sex partnerships came into force in 1995 before same-sex marriage was legalised in 2009. According to a Gay Happiness Index published in 2015 by LGBT social network, PlanetRomeo, in which gay men from over 120 countries were asked about how they feel about society’s view on same-sex relations, Sweden ranked fourth with a score of 73.

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Despite being labelled as one of the friendliest nations towards LGBTQI+ individuals, there are still areas of inequality. Legal gender changes must first be approved by the court or a psychiatric and/or psychological evaluation, for starters.

Iceland is largely inclusive and the progression of rights for LGBTQI+ people is ever-growing. It all started in the 1940s when the law that once criminalised same-sex activity was overturned. In 2009, a minority government took office, led by Jóhanna Sigurdardóttir, the world’s first openly gay head of government. Prior to her appointment, same-sex couples were granted equal access to adoption and IVF, but more positive changes came into play afterwards. For example, same-sex marriage was legalised in 2010. At the same time, Iceland was listed in Lonely Planet’s “Top 10 Gay Wedding Destinations” and in the aforementioned Gay Happiness Index, Iceland ranked first.

The issue of identity rights in Iceland was also brought to attention in 2018 when anti-discrimination laws concerning gender identity were passed. Two years later in 2020, a third gender option was made available on official documents.

According to advocacy group the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association, Finnish LGBT legislation is extensive. Many laws against hate towards sexual orientation and gender identity were passed before 2000. Rights including same-sex marriage and adoption came into play in 2017 and since 2007 female same-sex couples have had access to IVF treatment.

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There still seems to be a disparity of rights when gender identity is concerned. While transgender people are allowed to legally reassign identity documents, Finland requires all transgender people to be infertile (or sterilised) before they can legally apply for gender recognition. This issue was taken to parliament in 2021 and is yet to be resolved.