LGBT rights in the Faroe Islands

• The first gay pride march in the islands in 2005 provoked much controversy and criticism.[25]
• In 2005, the members of Great Garlic Girls, a group of Norwegian males who perform in drag, had to run for their lives when a gang of young men, intent on physically assaulting them, chased them down a street in Tórshavn during their performance. Nowhere else had the group been physically attacked.[13]
• In 2006, Rasmus Rasmussen, a popular and respected Faroese singer, songwriter, guitarist, and radio host was severely beaten by five men in Tórshavn and hospitalised, shortly after he publicly came out. He was later moved to a psychiatric hospital, suffering from deep depression allegedly exacerbated by the beating. Following media reports of the attack, he and his family received threatening telephone calls.[13] The Danish Prime Minister and Nordic Council expressed their concerns on the issue. Meanwhile, in an interview with Danish media in December 2006, Rasmussen said that he grew tired of condescending glances and mocking comments from Faroese society.
• In 2010, Christian Centre Party MP Jenis av Rana declined a dinner invitation with Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, a married lesbian, explaining that he did so "because of the party's views against same-sex marriage." He provoked further controversy by claiming that the majority of Faroese people would agree with his statement.[15] This incident was widely reported in the Scandinavian press and earned him much criticism, particularly from the Faroese, because of the potentially damaging nature of his actions to diplomatic relations between Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Some also criticized Jenis av Rana for damaging the reputation of the Faroe Islands.[26]
• In June 2015, Løgting Speaker Jógvan á Lakjuni wrote a letter to the editor titled "Hvar eru vit á veg?" ("Where are we heading?").[27] Jógvan á Lakjuni wrote that "we can see how selective [national broadcasting company] Kringvarp Føroya is – i.e., how much space the LGBT and its president get – while others, who try to speak against them, are ridiculed and ignored! And then there is the Nordic House in Tórshavn, which now just before the Ólavsøka, our Christian national holiday, will have a so-called "dragshow", where the homo-organization also plays a major role. What is this? Do these people not feel any shame at all, dragging such non-culture into the Nordic House?"[28]

Prominent member of LGBT Føroyar, Eiler Fagraklett in 2015.

• In August 2015, one of the themes that garnered a relatively high amount of attention in that year's general election campaign was same-sex marriage. The Centre Party quoted God and the Bible on several occasions. On 29 August 2015, there was an open air prayer meeting in front of the Parliament for people to pray for the election, and for marriage between one man and one woman, because organizers felt the Christian foundation of Faroese society was being threatened.[29] Four members of different Christian congregations sent out an appeal to the public to gather on the Tinghúsvøllur in front of Parliament and pray.[30][31] Centre Party Leader Jenis av Rana compared the LGBT Føroyar organization with the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, which ran a campaign against pilot whale hunting in the Faroe Islands in 2014 and 2015. Jenis av Rana claimed that both LGBT Føroyar and Sea Shepherd were threats from abroad against Faroese society, but that he considered LGBT Føroyar to be a worse threat, because the Sea Shepherd Society was only present for the summer while LGBT Føroyar was in the Faroe Islands all year long and "represented a far bigger threat to Christian values". Jenis av Rana repeated much the same thing in July 2015, suggesting that the pride parade held in the center of Tórshavn just before the Ólavsøka national holiday should be moved to Hoyvík, outside of Tórshavn, just as had been done with whaling protesters in 2014.[32] Eiler Fagraklett, a spokesperson for LGBT Føroyar, responded on Facebook that he was deeply hurt by the discussion about Faroese marriage law, and especially by the description by many Faroese during the electoral campaign of gay people as big sinners. Fagraklett also pointed out that the Prime Minister, the Speaker of the Løgting, three priests and 800 others had participated in the prayer meeting in front of Parliament to pray for the election and against same-sex marriage.[33]

Participants at the 2017 Faroe Pride parade

Later developments suggested that the Faroe Islands were becoming more liberal, even though the laws were still relatively conservative compared to other Nordic countries, partly due to the outlawing of discrimination towards LGBT people, which in turn encouraged many to come out publicly and the previous negative attitudes towards LGBT individuals have been softened.[24] Various LGBT exhibitions on the islands such as "Hvat er natúrligt?",[34] and "Gay Greenland" also helped increase public support for the LGBT community.[35]

In addition, the Faroese LGBT population received support from well-known Faroese figures such as singer-songwriter Eivør Pálsdóttir, who defended gay people in an interview with Icelandic media, saying that those with narrow-minded opinions on gays and transgender people should be ignored.[36][37]

Despite recent liberalization of attitudes towards LGBT people, limitations on their living conditions remain. Many MPs and government officials still hold homophobic attitudes or use religious reasoning to criticize LGBT people and block moves towards increased LGBT rights.[38] The country scored very low in both the ranking of "Rainbow Map Europe 2013" and "Rainbow Map Europe 2015".[39][40][41]

Sonja Jógvansdóttir became the first openly gay person to be elected to the Faroese Parliament after the September 2015 general election. She received 1,020 votes, making her the third-most popular Faroese politician. She was a prominent figure in the fight for the legalization of same-sex marriage.[42]

In recent years, Faroe Pride (fo), held annually in Tórshavn on 27 July, has attracted around 10% of the entire Faroese population.[43] Past guests and speakers have included former Mayor of Tórshavn Heðin Mortensen, former Mayor of Reykjavík Jón Gnarr, former American ambassador to Denmark Rufus Gifford, local priest Marjun Bæk and former Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir.