Response to interpellation 2022/23:9 on plans for work with LGBTQI-related reforms
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns hbtqi-political reforms and the living conditions of young hbtqi persons. L argues that hbtqi persons have poorer health and that the government should work actively to improve their rights and life situation 1. L emphasizes that the Tidö Agreement is not all-encompassing for the government's policy and that they want to criminalize conversion attempts 2 3. MP questions whether resources exist for all reforms in the Tidö Agreement and demands clarity on whether gender identity is covered in the criminalization of conversion attempts 4 5. MP advocates for self-determination when changing legal gender and wants the government to study experiences from Norway and Denmark 6. L responds that the school has an obvious role in the work 3.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! I would like to start by thanking Ulrika Westerlund for what is my first interpellation debate as Minister. The interpellation concerns an important area, LGBTQ+ issues, which I am very proud to have been given responsibility for as Minister.
Madam Speaker! Ulrika Westerlund has asked what my plan is to proceed with the proposals from MUCF's report on the living conditions of young LGBTQI people and whether I intend to implement other reforms aimed at improving the health and life situation of young LGBTQI people.
The Agency for Youth and Civil Society's extensive mapping of the living conditions of young LGBTQI people provides a very illuminating picture of the group's situation. It shows, for example, that young LGBTQI people have poorer health, particularly mental health, and that many experience insecurity, vulnerability, and have experience of various forms of violations. The results are in many ways worrying, and it is unacceptable that this group still has poorer living conditions than other young people. Overall, the report shows that there is a need for continued measures to promote the living conditions of young LGBTQI people.
The action plan for the equal rights and opportunities of LGBTQI persons includes concrete measures up to and including the year 2023. Young LGBTQI persons constitute a particular focus area and the action plan contains several interventions aimed at improving the health and life situation of young LGBTQI persons.
In the budget bill for 2023, it is proposed that 10 million kronor be allocated to the work for hbtqi persons' equal rights and opportunities. The supplement, which is expected to remain even in 2024, aims to complete ongoing efforts within the framework of the action plan and to enable new initiatives. The Government intends to, based on among other things the mentioned report from MUCF, consider which continued and new initiatives are needed to improve young hbtqi persons' health and life situation.
For me and the government, the equal rights and opportunities of LGBTQI people is a very pressing issue. In Sweden, everyone shall have the right to be who they are and love whom they want. It is particularly important to establish that this shall apply regardless of where in Sweden one lives and in what context one finds oneself.
Ulrika Westerlund (MP)
Madam Speaker! Thank you for the answer, Minister! I have some follow-up questions, of course.
My question has its background in the Tidö Agreement. It is a very extensive agreement that the government has concluded with the Sverigedemokraterna. The focus in the agreement lies on migration and crime. It occupies the largest space in the agreement. But there are also some LGBTQI-political reforms that have been mentioned. This concerns, among other things, the investigation of a ban on conversion attempts, some measures aimed at somewhat improving the situation for asylum-seeking LGBTQI persons, and also taking more measures in the area of honor, also with an LGBTQI focus.
I naturally welcome all these measures. But what I wonder is whether the agreement is to be interpreted as this being what there will be resources to implement during the mandate period, given that it is such a comprehensive agreement. I have not budgeted or scheduled exactly every single thing that is included in the agreement. But there are very many different reforms, and many of them require large investigations that will take a long time in order to see if they are possible to implement. A good deal of things that you in the government have agreed on with Sverigedemokraterna are also expensive. Even if one thinks that certain issues are very important, for example hbtqi-persons' rights, it is a matter of priorities. If one is, for example, to conduct investigations on legislation or get down to business with implementing some of the proposals from, for example, MUCF's report, it will cost money.
The action plan extends until 2023. Many of the measures included in the action plan have already been implemented. Especially in the area of young LGBTQI people, practically all measures have already been implemented, apart from potentially enacting legislation against conversion attempts. The MUCF report was one of the assignments in that area, and now it has arrived.
I understand that the government has just gathered and that not everything has been fully discussed. But what I wonder above all is whether what is stated in the Tidö Agreement is intended to be understood as what it will be possible to implement, or if we will be able to look forward to some more measures in the LGBTQI area. I will give some examples later. This is more of an entry point to the discussion.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! In the Tidö Agreement, there are certain reforms within the area of LGBTQ+ persons' rights that I am very proud of. One of the proposals that I am most proud of is precisely that which Ulrika Westerlund mentions, namely the criminalization of so-called conversion attempts, which we in the government see as an important measure.
The Tidö Agreement should not be interpreted as all-encompassing for the government's policy. The Tidö Agreement contains certain points that we within the government have agreed upon. But we will conduct much policy that also lies outside the Tidö Agreement.
When it comes to LGBTQI issues, MUCF's report will be part of the decision-making basis that the government uses when we design our policy within this area. As Ulrika Westerlund very rightly points out, the government has been in power for barely a month, and we have a lot of work to do. But the picture painted in MUCF's report is that there are still very large differences in mental health and life situation between LGBTQI persons and other groups in society. It is a situation that this government will never accept. We will work actively to improve rights and living conditions for LGBTQI persons.
Ulrika Westerlund (MP)
Madam Speaker! I want to proceed and discuss precisely this regarding conversion attempts, another aspect of the Tidö Agreement that I wonder if I have understood correctly. When describing what it is that one wants to investigate, only sexual orientation is mentioned and not gender identity and gender expression.
Unfortunately, we have seen a development in many countries in the global north, one could call it, perhaps especially in Anglo-Saxon countries, where the rights of trans people are being opposed. Conversion attempts can be most clearly seen in the United Kingdom. There, they have now moved forward with a bill to criminalize conversion attempts, but only regarding conversion attempts based on sexual orientation, not gender identity and gender expression. This is a result of some kind of culture war, one could almost call it that, where trans people have become a strange scapegoat.
We also saw in the recent American election that trans people's rights were something used as a symbol in an incredibly unpleasant way that I hope we never see in Sweden. Therefore, I react quite directly when, in other enumerations, gender identity and gender expression are mentioned but not specifically here. I wonder, of course, if it is a coincidence or if it should be interpreted as meaning that one does not intend to also criminalize attempting to convert people from their gender identity in the event of a potential criminalization. It is a concrete question.
MUCF's report is very extensive and contains a lot of different proposals, especially regarding giving different assignments to authorities. Some of them are also repetitions of proposals that were submitted much earlier. These are assignments to authorities that may have a slightly different view on how the work for everyone's equal rights is best carried out. Historically, we have seen this most clearly in the school sector. There, targeted initiatives are often not made for specific groups of students, including hbtqi youth, but it is hoped that all students will benefit from various measures that do not specifically target certain groups. In the current curricula, unfortunately, the rights of hbtqi persons have also not been included when other important issues are discussed, for example, honor-related violence and oppression, the importance of equality, and so on.
Here is an area where some groundwork and discussion would be required on how it would go about giving these assignments. I am particularly interested in hearing about the proposals regarding the school area, if it is something you have managed to look at generally and how you intend to proceed with it.
Earlier today, I had another interpellation debate with one of your government colleagues where we specifically spoke about some issues that she is responsible for, and I want to mention these because you are governing together anyway.
It concerns, of course, the Gender Identity Act, and here I have great hopes that precisely the Liberals will be able to consider moving forward with that draft for a referral to the Council on Legislation that arrived about a year ago - which both the Green Party and the Social Democrats stood behind and which the Liberals in many debates have expressed that they support, namely the principle of self-determination regarding the change of legal gender - and not the referral to the Council on Legislation that arrived in July this year and which was submitted by only the Social Democrats.
I understand that you have not decided yet, but since this has been somewhat of a liberal profile issue, I would still like to take this up with the Minister.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! I will begin by answering the question regarding the wording in the Tidö Agreement concerning conversion attempts. Many things that the government wants to implement are stated in the Tidö Agreement, but it should not be interpreted as that what is not stated there will not be implemented. The policy will be more comprehensive than that. Regarding the wording concerning conversion attempts, it should not be interpreted as a position that gender expression and gender identity shall not be covered by this legislation.
The next question that Ulrika Westerlund raised is how one works with LGBTQI issues in authorities and specifically schools. As Minister, I see it as a matter of course to look at this as part of the work to strengthen LGBTQI people's rights and life situations. We know that much of identity, norms, and values surrounding all people's equal rights are shaped in school at a young age, and I see it as a matter of course to look at what role the school has in this work. Exactly how we will work with these issues, I ask to return to, but that the school has a role in this work I see as a matter of course.
I would particularly like to emphasize that in the work we will carry out on these issues, we will also look at how it differs geographically for hbtqi persons. We can see that there are large differences depending on whether one lives in, for example, Stockholm, in a smaller rural location, or in a particularly vulnerable area where there is a culture of honor. We must look at whether we perhaps need to work with these issues in different ways depending on what the situation looks like in the specific geographical area.
The Nationality Act was, as mentioned, touched upon in a previous interpellation debate. As a minister, I represent the government. The Liberals, of course, have opinions on various issues, but in my role as a minister, I represent the government. The work on new legislation has come a long way, but we must return to how it will be designed.
Ulrika Westerlund (MP)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister again for the answer.
I understand that you are here in your role as a minister and not as a Liberal, but I still wanted to bring this up regarding the gender identity law because it is such an important issue, where the Green Party often competed with the Liberals for the lead when it comes to standing up for rights in these matters.
I continue a bit on the same theme, even though I understand that the Minister cannot answer. I really want to convey that the government is looking at the draft for the Council on Legislation referral that arrived a year ago and sees the differences regarding self-determination in that compared to what subsequently became a Council on Legislation referral.
In this work, I also want to recommend that one looks at experiences from our neighboring countries Norway and Denmark. Norway in particular is interesting in this context, because there they have introduced a law that is in principle the proposal that was in a Swedish investigation that came as early as 2014. The Minister knows this, surely.
One can look at experiences from Norway and see if, for example, there is any reason for concern that the possibility of easily changing legal gender could be used for purposes other than obtaining legal confirmation of gender identity. That does not seem to be the case, according to the report from the Riksdag's investigation service that I ordered during the general motion period.
It is worth following up on this with Norway and Denmark so that we do not decide on laws in Sweden affecting a vulnerable minority based on us believing that something might happen and not based on whether it will actually happen in practice when we can so easily look at the example of Norway.
I thank you for the answer regarding the school. I understand that I cannot ask detailed questions about every single proposal in the MUCF report, but I look forward to a continued conversation on this as you move forward. It is very good with different targeted interventions, and it is pleasing that the extra 10 million remains. Let me also emphasize the importance of making interventions based on the knowledge one has of how things look in different contexts.
Statsrådet Paulina Brandberg (L)
Madam Speaker! We will be addressing the gender identity law, and I would like to thank Ulrika Westerlund for the co-submission. I personally think it is wise to take an international perspective. These issues are not limited to Sweden; this problematic also exists in other countries. In that case, it is absolutely wise to look at how similar issues have been handled elsewhere.
I know that Ulrika Westerlund has worked hard on LGBTQI issues, and I also look forward very much to continued discussions on these issues.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.