Ten years after Norway introduced marriage equality, reports of hate crimes are increasing
Norway introduced marriage equality in 2008, but the number of reports of homophobic hate crimes increased between 2016 and 2017.
Hate crimes were reported after Oslo’s Pride parade last year, and police figures state that 549 hate crimes were reported to law enforcement in 2017, NRK writes.
“People who say it is unnecessary to have a Pride parade should read about the current situation. We must have pride until everyone feels completely comfortable about being openly gay,” Dag Terje Solvang, who works for the Conservative party and is husband of Minister of Health and Care Services Bent Høie, told the broadcaster.
Police figures show a 17.8 percent in reports of homophobic hate crime between 2016 and 2017, although that was a more moderate increase than the 34.3 percent between 2015 and 2016.
Statistics show that the number of crimes of this type reported between 2012-2014 remained stable at around 200, but then began to increase.
“We are seeing challenges related to the increase of hate crime. There are new groups emerging that are hostile to gay people, both through physical violence and rhetoric,” Høie told NRK.
Norway’s marriage equality law, which was passed in 2008, was a step in the right direction, Høie said.
“We had (previously) a civil partnership law which was good in many ways, but was a separate law nonetheless. That was, in our view, a form of discrimination that was important to correct,” he said.
Høie and Solvang became civil partners 18 years ago, NRK writes. The civil partnership law was introduced by Norway in 1993. It was superseded by the marriage law in 2009.
Marriage equality gives gay couples in the Norway the right to adopt children and to have children through surrogate mothers, which was not provided for under the previous law.
The head of Norway’s Association of Gender and Sexuality Diversity (Foreningen for kjønns- og seksualitetsmangfold, FRI) said that, despite marriage equality, there was still some way to go before complete equality for homosexual couples is achieved.
“We have a lot of rights on paper but there is still a way to go to equality in people’s minds. This year we are focusing on equal treatment for non-traditional family units,” Ingvild Endestad told NRK.
Society must take responsibility and stand up against hate crime, she said.
“During Pride month people come out in all their colours, but ugly things also come out. There are still people who think homosexuality should be I made illegal. It’s precisely because opinions like this exist that it’s important for us to be visible and to talk about the problems we face,” she added.
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Hate crimes were reported after Oslo’s Pride parade last year, and police figures state that 549 hate crimes were reported to law enforcement in 2017, NRK writes.
“People who say it is unnecessary to have a Pride parade should read about the current situation. We must have pride until everyone feels completely comfortable about being openly gay,” Dag Terje Solvang, who works for the Conservative party and is husband of Minister of Health and Care Services Bent Høie, told the broadcaster.
Police figures show a 17.8 percent in reports of homophobic hate crime between 2016 and 2017, although that was a more moderate increase than the 34.3 percent between 2015 and 2016.
Statistics show that the number of crimes of this type reported between 2012-2014 remained stable at around 200, but then began to increase.
“We are seeing challenges related to the increase of hate crime. There are new groups emerging that are hostile to gay people, both through physical violence and rhetoric,” Høie told NRK.
Norway’s marriage equality law, which was passed in 2008, was a step in the right direction, Høie said.
“We had (previously) a civil partnership law which was good in many ways, but was a separate law nonetheless. That was, in our view, a form of discrimination that was important to correct,” he said.
Høie and Solvang became civil partners 18 years ago, NRK writes. The civil partnership law was introduced by Norway in 1993. It was superseded by the marriage law in 2009.
Marriage equality gives gay couples in the Norway the right to adopt children and to have children through surrogate mothers, which was not provided for under the previous law.
The head of Norway’s Association of Gender and Sexuality Diversity (Foreningen for kjønns- og seksualitetsmangfold, FRI) said that, despite marriage equality, there was still some way to go before complete equality for homosexual couples is achieved.
“We have a lot of rights on paper but there is still a way to go to equality in people’s minds. This year we are focusing on equal treatment for non-traditional family units,” Ingvild Endestad told NRK.
Society must take responsibility and stand up against hate crime, she said.
“During Pride month people come out in all their colours, but ugly things also come out. There are still people who think homosexuality should be I made illegal. It’s precisely because opinions like this exist that it’s important for us to be visible and to talk about the problems we face,” she added.
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