Mostly a nice social gathering – Swedish Dagbladet

Mostly a nice social gathering – Swedish Dagbladet

August 2006: A dusty schoolyard in Södermalm. Eight party leaders on a cramped stage. An empty chair representing Prime Minister Göran Persson (S) that would not come.

August 2014: A full house at the Stockholm City Theatre. On the main stage all nine party leaders who were invited. The government is not lined up across from the opposition, but everyone sitting together on a long line at a regnbågsdekorerat conference table. Admittedly, block by block, but Göran Hägglund (KD) and Asa Romson (MP) rubs elbows with each other.

Party leaders smiling and joking, even across block boundaries, and contact with the audience is worthy of the theater. Even Göran Hägglund, who was greeted by boos 2006 (2010, he did not participate) may, with the audience on several laughs.

A picture of Swedish politicians to death clutching the LGBT movement? Absolutely.

That it also is the election year only party leader debate organized by an association and not by parliament or TV companies also speaks for itself.

But details are there to discover for those who look hard enough.

City Theatre seems to have forgotten to turn on the air conditioning for the summer holidays, and generally cheer takes the blazer-clad section of party leaders, the crowd of about a after one and sits there in the shirts.

Two still maintain their formal jackets on: Göran Hägglund (KD) and Fredrik Reinfeldt (M). The two tend to the debate more often to refer to investigations while other parties provide clearer information about what changes they want to see.

to Hagglund is not held in high esteem in the LGBT community are understood no news. But Hägglund seems very comfortable in this context and present his most wisecracking mood.

Fredrik Reinfeldt seems unusually uncomfortable.

Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt other hand, seems unusually uncomfortable. When he pressed the leaders debate on responsibility for LGBTQ refugees deported to countries where homosexuality is punishable by death, he appears almost pigheaded and demands to see the falls.

Really interesting becomes debate when the party leaders who finish get a minute to tell which individual LGBT issue that is important to them personally.

Both Björklund (Liberal) and Hagglund (KD) responds treatment of LGBTQ people in the public , Reinfeldt (M) specifies and want to lift older LGBT terms. Romson (MP) chooses instead young LGBT terms.

Sjöstedt (V), select the ability to have more than two guardians, and even Loof (C) protruding chin on family area and raising the possibility to have children through surrogacy.

Löfven (S) corresponds employment discrimination. The two representatives outside the parliament, Sissela Nordling Blanco (Fi) and Anna Troberg (Pirate Party), thinks that the issue of asylum for LGBT refugees are most important. In much does this compare to the parties’ focus issues at large. It could be interpreted as LGBTQ issues become an integral part of their policy. It also says something about how embraced LGBTQ movement is.