Response to interpellation 2025/26:192 on hate and threats against LGBTQI people in Swedish schools

Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)

Mr. Speaker! Daniel Vencu Velasquez Castro has asked me in what ways I and the government intend to act against the development of increased hate and threats against hbtqi persons in Swedish schools. The member has also asked me in what way I and the government intend to enable civil society or other initiatives to be able to carry out school information sessions on hbtqi persons' equal rights and opportunities. The member has also asked me whether I and the government, following the reporting from among others RFSL, will complement the school's mission and the teachers' competence by including specific hbtqi competence development.

To begin with, I want to be clear that no student or staff member should have to be subjected to discrimination or offensive treatment in school. Everyone should be able to live their lives in freedom and safety regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression. At the same time, threats, hate, and discrimination against hbtqi persons still occur. The government's work to promote hbtqi persons' equal rights and opportunities therefore continues with both vigor and long-term focus.

The school has, according to the Education Act (2010:800) and the Discrimination Act (2008:567), an obligation to actively counteract all forms of discrimination and offensive treatment. If someone is subjected to such treatment, it is the school's obligation to act.

The Government also considers that the school, with the proposals that the Curriculum Inquiry submitted in the report Knowledge for all – new curricula with a focus on teaching and learning (SOU 2025:19), could receive an important basis in the work to develop sex education. Through it, there are good opportunities to develop students' knowledge of the rights that exist linked to issues concerning both identity and sexuality. Knowledge is central to countering and preventing threats and hate.

The government is implementing a number of different measures to strengthen the equal rights and opportunities of hbtqi persons. In January 2025, the government decided on a new action plan for the equal rights and opportunities of hbtqi persons, which is a central starting point for the work in Sweden.

As the member mentions, the Swedish National Agency for Education and the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society Affairs are hbtqi-strategic agencies. The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society Affairs has continued its mandate to strengthen the conditions for school leaders and staff to promote a safe school, counter homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia among young people, and create an open and inclusive environment in the school. The Swedish National Agency for Education has a task to promote the equal rights and opportunities of hbtqi persons, among other things through its mandate to strengthen the systematic work against honor-related violence and oppression within the school system, which also includes hbtqi persons (U2022/02559).

The Government has also tasked Forum för levande historia to both develop knowledge support for public activities regarding equal rights and opportunities for hbtqi persons (A2024/00980), and to conduct a study of Swedish schoolchildren's attitudes towards hbtqi persons (A2023/00959).

I want to conclude by once again underlining that no student or staff member in the school shall be subjected to discrimination or offensive treatment. It is one of the government's goals that there should be zero tolerance for all forms of bullying and harassment in the school.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Daniel Vencu Velasquez Castro (S)

Mr. Speaker! I want to begin with a quote from Rädda Barnens Ungdomsförbund's report on what it is like to be a young LGBTQI person today: I will be oppressed. I will be discriminated against. In some cases, it is dangerous to be out.

My question takes its starting point in that very statement. Everything erupted when there was an article in Dagens Nyheter where RFSL testifies that they can no longer carry out school information sessions due to the increased insecurity in Swedish schools for hbtqi-persons. I and Minister Mohamsson have had an interpellation debate on just this earlier in November.

LGBTQI-friendliness does not only exist in the world of school, but it is widespread in the entire society. If we are to stick to the Swedish school, I nevertheless want to state that under the Social Democratic government, the school had a special mission to work with norm criticism by spreading knowledge support and continuing education to teachers. This concerned above all LGBTQI issues but also the conditions of trans people in the school environment.

The political direction today is still that Skolverket is one of the strategic agencies, which is good. It is good that it remains fixed. But we also see that the direction has shifted from specifically dealing with hbtqi competence development to basic values work. Therefore, I and the Socialdemokraterna mean that a more targeted focus on just hbtqi persons' safety and living conditions was needed.

When it comes to safety, the teacher bears a heavy responsibility for safety in the classrooms and in the school. But it does not only concern the teacher. More adults are required in the school. There is a need for leisure educators, childcare workers, and others who can complement the teacher's basic task of offering a good, safe, and equal education.

I would like to say that it was quite clear in the Minister's answer that there is a lack of a cohesive force, or rather a cohesive plan for how to address the increased LGBTQI-hostility in schools. One chooses to continue referring to the action plan. It is in many ways good, but there is nothing there that concretizes, for example, how LGBTQI civil society shall be granted strengthened financial resources. There is also nothing stated about how the government intends to strengthen school information in Swedish schools.

Therefore, Mr. Speaker, I want to emphasize the importance of a coordinated and systematic work from all the designated authorities. Right now, the work is spread across several authorities and several departments. There is no LGBTQI coordinator. There is also no follow-up requirement on the authorities regarding how the action plan has been complied with.

If one wants effective measures that yield results, it is a matter of long-term perspective and goal-oriented work. I want to say that civil society plays a central role. It is a matter of including civil society in this work and ensuring that civil society receives long-term support.

Mr. Speaker! Funds are needed for things that do not solely occur in project form. We need to become better at collecting data to be able to follow up on what the situation is regarding the safety of LGBTQI persons in schools and in society at large, and to know what measures we need to implement to tackle this. It is also about being able to measure the effects of the measures.

In MUCF's report I am not alone, there are others who are mapped out how young hbtqi-people are doing today. It turns out that 28 percent do not feel welcome in leisure activities and that half do not feel a sense of belonging or safety in school. These are staggering figures.

What is the government's coherent and concrete plan to strengthen the rights of hbtqi persons in schools and in society?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Andreas Lennkvist Manriquez (V)

Mr. Speaker and Minister for Education! Recently, both students and teachers have raised the alarm about increased hatred against LGBTQI people in Swedish schools. In several reports, we have, among other things, been able to read about teachers whose students have left the classroom in protest against the teacher's sexual orientation, about students who are forced to hide who they are for fear of being forced to endure hatred and threats, and about informants from RFSL who no longer dare to visit schools. That this occurs is completely unacceptable and deeply unworthy of a country like Sweden.

The reality is this: When political representatives who compare homosexuality with pedophilia are rewarded with top positions, it sends signals. When politicians in this chamber spread disinformation about trans people, it sends signals. When a moderate Member of Parliament is allowed to downplay a homophobic and Nazi activist club to a training club, it sends signals.

These signals have consequences and find their way all the way into the Swedish classrooms. It is precisely those consequences we see now. We see young people and teachers who are afraid in their schools and workplaces. We see same-sex parents who are worried about what their children will have to hear on the schoolyard or in the classroom.

This is your responsibility, Minister of Education Mohamsson. Please tell us what the government will concretely do to increase safety for LGBTQI persons in Swedish schools. When I previously asked a written question about this, the Minister of Education referred, among other things, to the curriculum and sex education, but much of that will be weakened by the changes that were raised in the previous interpellation debate.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Ulrika Westerlund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! I will not drag this out by using all my four minutes, but I have a few things that I think we can talk a bit more about.

Many of us refer to what does not belong in Sweden and to the fact that Sweden has a long tradition of the former and the latter. I want to remind that Sweden's LGBTQ-friendly history is not very long. That is why we who are ourselves LGBTQ persons feel threatened when it concerns rights that have been introduced during my lifetime. Gender-neutral marriages came in 2009. In the early 2000s, it became possible for two people of the same sex to be parents together. Forced sterilization of trans people ceased in 2013. It is absolutely recent history that we are talking about.

Heat and hatred against hbtqi people has always existed, also in Sweden. It has been carried out by actors with different backgrounds and core values and with different reasons for expressing this hatred, but it has always existed in Sweden. This is something that we must always stand up against together.

I am seriously concerned that rights could be eroded in Sweden as well. We have seen it in other countries in our immediate vicinity. Even though I do not believe it is particularly close at hand that Sweden would start tearing up laws that protect hbtqi people's rights, I think I see an increased aggressiveness in the public debate that did not exist ten years ago. It definitely existed, however, 30 years ago, and it has had a lot of appalling consequences – murders, violent attacks and so on – for hbtqi people and their gathering places.

That is why this is serious. It is very serious when political representatives who are elected to the Riksdag or even sit in the government use hbtqi-persons as some kind of tool to advance prejudiced views. I am doubtful as to whether the people who say these things actually believe what they say themselves. I get the impression that they use, above all, trans people as a tool to score points and win favor with certain voter groups. I think that is deeply problematic.

I want to return to the report that MUCF presented in 2022, which has been mentioned several times in the debate. In that report, we interviewed young hbtqi people. One of the saddest things was that young hbtqi people performed worse than other young people in all areas. They stated themselves that they had poorer health. Everything was challenges for young hbtqi people.

In one area, young LGBTQI people stood out positively. They had a greater political engagement than other young people, perhaps because they felt a need to get involved. Something else sad, however, was that very many told us that they had stopped consuming news because they felt so poorly from it. It could sound like this: As soon as I open the newspaper, there is some politician saying something negative about trans people, so I no longer want to be part of the public debate and consume political news, even though it is a great interest of mine.

This has not improved in any way. Are there plans from the government representatives who have a strong commitment to everyone's equal rights – I definitely count the Minister for Education there – to comment or issue statements on the importance of respect for the rights of hbtqi-persons and trans persons to counterbalance statements made by other government representatives, for example, about overturning various laws that have recently been adopted?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)

Mr. Speaker! I want to begin by saying that I belong to a party that has a proud history of fighting alongside some of the members' parties for everyone's equal rights in society. We have had representatives, such as Barbro Westerholm, who time and again have proven that this is a long struggle but that it is also an important struggle to undertake.

Just as Member Westerlund says, we need to continue to defend these rights every day, not least in view of the changes we see in the world around us. As more and more countries show that they question these rights, Sweden's role and resilience become even more important. I work every day to ensure that we not only defend but also further develop these rights.

School should be a safe and secure place for all students. If one does not feel safe or does not feel seen, or if one is worried about one's rights, one will have difficulty focusing on the school task. If one cannot do that, one will not get the same opportunities later in life.

Feeling safe is a prerequisite for feeling well, for enjoying school, and for being able to participate in the teaching. Therefore, it is crucial that school principals ensure that every operation works goal-oriented against offensive treatment of children and students. The school shall, among other things, take measures to prevent and stop offensive treatment and establish annual plans against offensive treatment, all of this so that responsibility is taken for it at all times.

The school shall also actively counter tendencies toward discrimination related to gender, ethnic origin, religion, gender-diverse identity or expression, sexual orientation, age, and disability, as the school is crucial for us to also ensure that the values that both I and the members gladly speak about reach the younger generations and become a matter of course.

That is why we need to have a safe school with clear expectations. That is why we have clear priorities when it comes to how we are to address these serious problems. It is about several different interventions that shall put together a puzzle so that the school has this resilience.

I mentioned in the previous debate that in January the government received a report on better conditions for safety and study in schools with proposals for important measures to permanently strengthen safety and study. This includes, among other things, zero tolerance towards harassment and offensive treatment in school and how to ensure that zero tolerance. The proposals are being investigated now and will then be placed on the Riksdag's table, and I hope that several of the members' parties here will stand behind it.

Even in the budget bill for 2026, the government proposes several initiatives to improve order in the classrooms and in the school, for example through increased investments to make it mandatory for schools to have consequence plans and expectation documents. Also here, I think it should be clear that we speak out when someone threatens and hates and when one does not share the common values. This applies to both students and parents.

It is absolutely crucial that the entire society shows that we have a zero tolerance, and we only do that by showing that we do not meet halfway when it comes to these values. We shall not compromise, but these are crucial values that we must all stand up for.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Daniel Vencu Velasquez Castro (S)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!

I agree that we must stand united and try to find broad consensus when it comes to standing guard over our values. It is also about establishing what constitutes a value, for much like what my colleague Ulrika Westerlund establishes, values are very much about us all also daring to express them.

Values are not something that is permanent over time, but something that we must win all the time, and the development that we see in the Swedish school is perhaps an indication that we are far from where we want to be when it comes to which values should characterize Swedish democracy.

If we adhere to democracy, the human rights of hbtqi persons are a vital part of a well-functioning and robust democracy, and in Sweden, it is the Swedish school that has the democratic mandate. It is there that the democratic citizens of the future shall be formed and developed in order to be able to continue to stand guard over democracy in the future.

Mr. Speaker! What kind of society have young LGBTQI people seen during these three years? From the Sweden Democrats' side, it started with inciting against drag queens; in the municipalities where they rule, they have chosen to take down the Pride flag, and in the debate on the gender identity law, they ridiculed trans people from this rostrum, in this chamber, before the entire Swedish people.

At the same time, the cooperation between Liberalerna, Moderaterna, Kristdemokraterna, and Sverigedemokraterna has intensified and deepened. It is clear that this sends signals to young LGBTQI people. I believe that the Minister and I are quite in agreement regarding which values we want to characterize Swedish democracy. The problem is that the actual political outcome and whom one cooperates with sends completely different signals to the country's young LGBTQI people.

If we are to focus on the school's democratic mission, we see that we still have a long way to go toward an equal and egalitarian school in Sweden today, not least because the school is heavily impacted by religious independent schools and limited companies that run schools for profit interest instead of, for example, an interest in the democratic mission. This creates an inequality that the government does nothing about. Instead, a policy is pursued that does not give students an equal education, and in the long run, it is Swedish democracy that is deeply affected by this.

Mr. Speaker! In my previous contribution, I touched upon some measures that the government itself could take and which perhaps are not about who one cooperates with. If there is now an action plan, then appoint an LGBTQI coordinator who is allowed to work across authorities and who has the mandate to gather the different departments concerned to ensure that the tasks given are also followed up and implemented.

One can also produce a concrete plan for how to live up to the democratic mandate in every school in our country. It cannot be that you, as an LGBTQI person in one part of the country, are to have a completely different experience than an LGBTQI person in another part of the country. But that is exactly how it is today.

Something I particularly want to highlight is the competence development and continuing education that is required for Sweden's teachers regarding the human rights of hbtqi persons, and furthermore, how data can be collected to see effects and results.

These were some of my proposals, Mr. Speaker. I would very much like the Minister to provide answers regarding them.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Andreas Lennkvist Manriquez (V)

Mr. Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer!

The government's new action plan for the equal rights and opportunities of LGBTQ persons is an important document. The central point, however, is that there are clear goals, a follow-up, and funding. If the ambition is that no student should feel afraid or vulnerable in school, more than just principles are needed. Concrete measures and active accountability from all levels in the school's chain of command are needed, but also increased cooperation between authorities, departments, and civil society.

How does the Minister for Education intend to achieve this?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Ulrika Westerlund (MP)

Mr. Speaker! I shall keep it very brief, as it is clear that we all wish to hear a bit more about some issues that recur.

We have discussed the sex education, and the government will return to it. Right now, we do not know exactly what these curricula are to look like and whether the government chooses to listen to all critical referral bodies. I hope that they do, but I understand that it is something that is under development now.

We have also heard about the already ongoing assignments and the existing action plan. All of this is, of course, welcome, but I think what grates on me the most is the strange combination of, on the one hand, having a fairly high level of ambition when it comes to driving forward LGBTQ+ political reforms, and on the other hand, that parties that are a large part of the government base also contribute to the deterioration in the public debate. I think that is why we continue to return to precisely that discrepancy in this debate.

I have welcomed many of the changes that have been implemented by the government, not least when it comes to the gender identity law. Now, there is also a ban on conversion attempts, and even if it did not become a separate law – which I believe would have been better for normative reasons – it is still a step forward that it will now be criminalized and also include trans people. It came just at the very end, which is very welcome.

The government is therefore implementing a number of reforms. At the same time, there are representatives for the government base who contribute to a diminished quality of life for Sweden's hbtqi persons simply through their public problematic statements here in the chamber and in the media.

If it is possible to get some kind of reflection on what other forces in the government could perhaps do to counteract this, I welcome it.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)

Mr. Speaker! I will begin by answering some of the questions from Member Vencu Velasquez Castro regarding, above all, competence development and attitudes. I completely agree that it is a work that is ongoing all the time, because it is about people. It is about constantly working with these issues, because new people enter the school, are trained, and need to become a part of this. That is why we are taking several measures.

One of the measures I mentioned initially is that Forum för levande historia has been commissioned to carry out a study of students' attitudes towards hbtqi persons. I believe it is crucial that we constantly have the correct information in order to be able to provide interventions that are as effective as possible.

Mr. Speaker! Another important aspect of the work for a safe school is that there is knowledge among the staff. Both I and the member have highlighted that this work is important. There are, as mentioned, several authorities that are to offer support to schools. It is also important that the principals take their responsibility and ensure that the schools receive support and ask for support when it is difficult – not least as described in the debate articles the member initially spoke about.

Particularly in some vulnerable areas, it is difficult to dare to accept support and acquire the necessary resilience. In those cases, even more support is needed and that people dare to ask for it. There are authorities whose mandate is to strengthen the conditions for school management and staff to promote a safe school, counteract homophobia, biphobia, and transphobia among young people, and create an inclusive and open environment for all hbtqi persons in the school. I believe it is absolutely crucial that staff in the school have the opportunity to set boundaries and intervene if and when students do not behave.

I would like to take the opportunity to ask the member a few questions, because this is about whether one is willing to take measures to create a school that has this resilience. Will the Social Democrats stand behind the government's measures to increase teachers' powers, for example through opportunities to expel students from the classroom? Will you agree to proposals on expectation documents aimed at students and parents to ensure that the school puts safety first and that it does not matter what background you have? Will the member, when proposals of such a character are put on the table here in the chamber, stand behind them, or will you choose not to do so? What proposals do you then have to increase safety?

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Daniel Vencu Velasquez Castro (S)

Mr. Speaker! I can start by answering some of these questions. It is recurring when we talk about democracy and safety that the blame is placed on the students and that they should be shut out. But one gives no opportunities for students to have influence in the Swedish school and to increase their knowledge and competence regarding democracy. One does nothing to strengthen civil society, which is a vital part of Swedish democracy. It is civil society that carries out school information. They say they can no longer do it because of the insecurity but get the answer that one shuts out students instead of including civil society.

I asked a question in the previous interpellation debate on sexual education about why the government is not engaging in dialogue with civil society on how safety in the Swedish school system can be strengthened for hbtqi persons. As long as we have an unequal school, Mr. Speaker, safety will suffer. If we do not manage the democratic mandate, it is not only the safety for hbtqi persons that will suffer, but their very right to exist, because as I said earlier, hbtqi persons' human rights are a vital part of a functioning democracy. That is what is threatened today.

Right now, the hatred, which RFSL also testifies to, comes primarily from the far-right. It expresses itself in this chamber through the Sweden Democrats. You simply cannot get around it. That is the reality in society today. How many young people will have to be subjected to, for example, the Sweden Democrats' mockery of trans people before the government acts?

Mr. Speaker! Events in society characterize the Swedish school. It is completely obvious. The government does not seem to have a plan to long-term finance civil society. There is no plan to systematically work with LGBTQI knowledge-raising initiatives. At the same time, one has made oneself dependent on Sweden's most LGBTQI-hostile party. I can only regret that, because it is young LGBTQI people who will pay the highest price for it.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)

Utbildnings- och integrationsministern Simona Mohamsson (L)

Mr. Speaker! I opened the debate and will also conclude it by saying that all forms of harassment, threats, and violence in school are completely unacceptable. All students have the right to feel safe in school, but to my questions regarding how one stands towards the proposals we will put on the table to strengthen safety, the members respond by saying that we should not go after students.

I think I am very clear in these debates, Mr. Speaker, that we are strengthening teachers' and principals' ability to put their foot down, to clearly show what is expected of students in school and to set clear boundaries. When we set clear boundaries around how one is allowed to behave in school and clearly state that threats and hate are not accepted, that one cannot cause trouble and that one is not allowed to behave however they want towards other students, we are also setting the boundaries for how our democracy functions.

I believe that the democratic mission is among the most important things that exist in schools. The principals need to constantly ensure that every operation works goal-oriented against violations. But that also requires that we rethink what opportunities we give the school to use different tools to push back when someone does not respect this.

I wonder if they will still take the easy way out when these proposals are put on the table. Student influence and democracy are the most important things that exist in school, and therefore we need to give teachers the tools to uphold the important democratic rights components. That is why the government proposes major changes regarding safety and order.

I thank the member for the question and look forward to discussing this further.

The interpellations debate was hereby concluded.

The speech at riksdagen.se, in Swedish (opens in a new tab)