Sweden has become the epitome of 'homosexuality,' whenever you tell someone from another country or culture that your from Sweden, they may not always say it, but what's running through their head is 'oh, the country where everyone's homosexual,' people have even commented 'right, that's the country with the gay prince." Why has Sweden become the essence of homosexuality? There are many reasons why Sweden might have developed this stamp; it lays in the political structure of Sweden's past, mainly within the loose liberal ideologies which prevailed during the '60's.
During the first half of the '60's, the sexuality debate was one of the hottest topics of discussion. Everyone had their own opinion on the matter, and the question of free sex was everywhere from media to chats by the water cooler, the Swedish "society stood on the threshold on something new and decisive,"- Lena Lennerhed. The topics of discussion ranged from abortion on demand, acceptance of pre-matrimonial sex, and of course homosexuality.
Steele Hall featured in the 1975 campaign poster.
Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and ...
Portal of the Church of Pilgrims, in Washington, D...Young liberals, social democrats, journalists, alike, came together and called themselves the sex-liberal movement, together they wanted to increase the freedom of the individual, but also for society to become more tolerant of 'sex'. This sex liberal movement of the 60's wasn't entirely new, back in the 1880's when Neo-Malthusianism was introduced, radicals of the time were preaching much of the same ideologies as the radicals of the 60's. The sex liberals, whom also called themselves cultural radicals, were characterized by a strong belief in human rationality, science, and human progress.
Homosexuality had become more and more accepted within society since the beginning of the early 1900's, and finally in 1944 homosexual contact between adults was legalized. Both journalist Henning Pallensen and psychiatrist Lars Ullerstam wrote articles and books about homosexuality in 1966; they used the word...