Er í lagi, Ísland?
You Okay, Iceland?
YOU OKAY, ICELAND ? It is interesting to observe how quickly society can change. Not too long ago, education on LGBTQIA+ was introduced in primary and secondary schools, a massive victory for the queer community. Educating our children early on should prevent prejudice and stigmatization, and doing so at a young age should undoubtedly contribute to a better and safer future for queer people. However, progress tends to take two steps forward and one step back. Some people in Iceland may feel that there is too much representation of different groups of people - people who are not white, heterosexual, or cisgender males. Especially now that Andrew Tate has made himself the representative of the large, "oppressed" majority of young heterosexual men, who feel they have finally found their voice and the freedom to fight the "woke" justice warriors. What are the manifestations of this rebellion against a more open discussion of queerness? Some have taken it upon themselves to commit acts of vandalism across the country, which surely should be classified as acts of violence against the queer community. Queer flags have been torn down, and we’ve seen the vandalization of flags in entire municipalities. The queer flag painted outside the church of Grafarvogur was defaced twice with fearmongering propaganda - once with the word "Antichrist" scrawled over the flag.After the flag was repaired, it was vandalized again and "Leviticus 20:13" was scrawled over it; a Bible passage which states: "If a man lies with a man as with a woman, they have both committed an abomination." At the same time this took place, flags were vandalized and torn down all over the country, and all the halyards at Rangárþing ytra had been cut. However, the chief of police in South Iceland did not consider this incident to be an attack on the queer community, but classified it as a general act of vandalism. However, many people think that if vandalism is only being committed on queer flags throughout the country, then it can be argued that these series of incidents should be classified as hate crimes. Daníel E. Arnarsson, executive director of Samtökin 78, Iceland’s National Queer Organisation, stated that for a long period of time Iceland has been doing well in terms of hate speech and crimes against the queer community; in other words, they've stayed at a relatively low level. Unfortunately, now he feels like Iceland is moving in the wrong direction. Barking at gay people has become quite common this past summer, a behavior that stems from young men on TikTok who took to barking at trans women. As a result, gay youths have experienced an increase in hate speech and harassment directed towards them. A group of teenagers reported this summer that
things had been thrown at them; they were told to take their own lives and that they weren't human. Because of this, many of them hardly dare to leave the house. One wonders how this has come to fruition in today's world. Kids today should know better, and those starting high school this year have had more education regarding queer matters than any other generation before them. It is clear that some people cannot handle seeing other groups within our society receive more visibility in their daily lives. Quite a few Icelanders have expressed their negative opinions on Facebook about the remake of The Little Mermaid. In recent years, the social debate has developed so that those who ostracize others based on sexuality, gender identity, gender expression, or other characteristics, have been increasingly marginalized by more progressive voices. However, there seems to be a trend present among young people, including an increased hostility towards the queer community, at least more so than in the past few years. Are people tired of being careful about what they say in public? Or is the debate merely becoming more polarized than before? The controversial "Masculinity chat" scandal took place not long ago when a lecturer from the university of Reykjavík was fired after sharing derogatory comments about women in a closed group intended only for men. Perhaps the secret lies in listening to the experiences of minorities, trying to understand them, and fighting ignorance along the way - then fewer people would have reason to feel like they have to be careful about what they say. How do you counter such hatred? It's hard to say because there will always be those who refuse to follow or support queer liberisation. It's still important to remind people that our words and actions matter, even if it doesn't always seem that way. While saying the word "fag," perhaps in jest, or purposefully refusing to use a person’s preferred pronouns may not affect you, it does affect those who have endured hearing it used against them for years. There are also many similar things in everyday speech that most people miss or don't pay too much attention to. Suppose you hear someone say something derogatory about your friend based on skin color, gender identity, gender expression, or sexuality. In that case, it's your duty to stand by your friend who is being harassed - whether that person is in the room or not. It can be challenging to stand up for people belonging to minority groups in a room full of people from the majority group - it takes courage. Often, the individuals in the majority will stand together and make you feel like you're in the wrong. But as long as your values a pply to equality among all groups in society, you shouldn't care what the majority thinks of you.
