The Faroe Islands and the Amendment of the Hate Crime Statute §266b. A history of the Faroese LGBT+ community, homophobia and religion, from 1980’s to the mid 2000’s

Abstract

This thesis explores the history of LGBT+ rights in the Faroe Islands, and the intersection of LGBT+ rights and religion in political discussions.I have looked into newspapers, documentaries, parliamentary discussions, law proposals and academic publications to understand the progress of LGBT+ rights in the Faroe Islands and the arguments for and against them. I have used queer theories that explain how politicians would describe LGBT+ people, with special attention to the “foreign vice” argument, as queer Faroese people would move abroad and not be visible in society.To evaluate this paper, I have focused on the §266b “hate crime bill” and the inclusion of the words “sexual orientation”, which was first introduced to the Faroese parliament in 1988 but not passed until 2006. With this framework in mind, I have detailed the events and discussions from 1987 up until the approval in 2006, and looked into the pivotal moments of queer activism in the Faroe Islands, while also analyzing the debates for and against LGBT+ people in the Faroese parliament.The thesis then concludes with arguing how the §266b hate crime bill was the first positive LGBT+ right, that was passed with queer people in mind, and would then lead to increased visibility and rights.