Finland is one of the most progressive countries in the world, yet the battle for LGBTI equality in the country is far from over, writes Saaga Leppänen. This was especially evident in the Presidential Election contest earlier this year. Beyond legislation, then, what needs to change if the ideal of LGBTI equality is to become a reality in Finland and the wider world?

As a Nordic state with progressive LGBTI legislation and an outstanding track record for human rights, Finland is often considered not only one of the best places to live but also a model country for equality. However, the recent Presidential Elections highlighted that the battle for LGBTI equality is far from over, even in countries like Finland.

Finland vs its Nordic neighbours: Slow progress on LGBTI rights

Although Finland is one of the most progressive countries in the world, it has been trailing behind the rest of the Nordic countries (Denmark, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) on pro-LGBTI legislation for decades. Finland was second last out of the five countries to legalise consensual same-sex sexual activity in 1971. When it legalised civil unions between same-sex couples in 2002 and joint adoption between same-sex couples in 2017, it was the last of the Nordics to do so, with the other countries legalising civil unions between 1989 and 1996 and joint adoption between 2003 and 2010.

More recently, same-sex marriage was only legalised in Finland on the 1 March 2017, two and a half years after the bill for the legislation was approved by the Finnish Parliament in a close vote of 101 in support and 90 against. Although this was a milestone for LGBTI rights in Finland, and made it the twentieth country in the world to allow same-sex couples to marry, Finland was still by a long way the last Nordic country to do so, with Sweden and Norway legalising same-sex marriage in 2009, Iceland in 2010, and Denmark in 2012. Finland was also years behind the majority of Nordic countries when it finally took a step towards improving the lives of trans people by passing a law on legal gender recognition in 2023.

Public attitudes towards LGBTI people and growing political polarisation

In 2024, laws criminalising being gay remain a reality in 65 countries across the world, with homosexuality punishable by death in 12. Even in more progressive countries, like Finland, the battle for equal rights and treatment is far from over with sexual minorities still facing discrimination and prejudice. Whilst the public attitude in Finland is reportedly growing more tolerant towards sexual minorities, there has been a sharp increase in hate crimes based on sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression, with the number of suspected hate crimes reported to the police doubling between 2020 and 2022. It is therefore not shocking that, in 2021, 92 per cent of Finns identifying as LGBTI revealed that they are still hiding their sexual orientation and/or gender identity at work, at least to some extent.

Furthermore, a recent report from Seta, the leading LGBTI Rights organisation in Finland, showed that whilst there had been a record number of Pride events in Finland in 2023, indicating growing support of the LGBTI community, 66 per cent of the organisers of these events had also witnessed hate speech and/or hate crimes targeted at the events. The growing number of LGBTI hate crimes as well as the increase in hate crimes more generally is clear evidence of the growing political polarisation among Finns.

The extent of this political polarisation and its effects on the LGBTI community was further revealed in the Finnish Presidential Elections that took place earlier this year…

How homophobia played a role in the 2024 Presidential Elections

In the second round of the Finnish Presidential Elections held on 11 February 2024, the candidates had been whittled down to Alexander Stubb, a former Prime Minister from the National Coalition Party and Pekka Haavisto, a former Foreign Minister from the Green Party. Stubb ended up narrowly winning the election with 51.6% of the votes against Haavisto’s 48.4%.

Although Pekka Haavisto, an openly gay candidate, got very close to being elected president, a survey conducted by the Finnish newspaper Helsingin Sanomat ahead of the final vote revealed that 40% of those planning to vote for Stubb felt that Haavisto’s sexual orientation was inappropriate for a president. Furthermore, for those planning to vote for Stubb, Haavisto’ sexual orientation was the third biggest reason why they would not vote for him (behind “having different values” and “supporting a different political party”). In comparison, only 1% of those voting for Haavisto selected Stubb’s sexual orientation (heterosexual) as a reason not to vote for him.

Figure 1: Reasons not to vote for the other candidate (% of respondents)

Another survey conducted by MTV after the elections reported similar results, with 60% of Stubb voters stating that Haavisto’s sexual orientation had affected their voting decision at least slightly and 24% stating it was a deciding factor. The results of these surveys are particularly notable as the margins between Stubb and Haavisto were so slim; if only 50, 000 of Stubb voters (=3% of his overall votes) would have voted for Haavisto instead, he would have won. There is therefore no denying that homophobia played a big role in the election results.

The battle is not over: A long way to go for LGBTI equality

While the extent of homophobia in the Finnish Presidential Elections seems to contradict the country’s progressive reputation, it mirrors what surveys have been highlighting for years: when it comes to LGBTI issues in Finland, there is a massive disconnect between legislation and public opinion. The case of Finland shows that while progressive laws are essential, laws themselves won’t guarantee the acceptance and well-being of LGBTI people. In the end, attitudes won’t change overnight, and they won’t change automatically just because legislation does.

What is also important to note is that Finland is not alone. Other European countries have also recently been witnessing growing political polarisation and a surge in intolerance towards LGBTI people. This is partly due to the rising popularity of far-right politicians and anti-human rights political movements and how they tend to use hate and discrimination as tools for gaining more political power and media attention. In many countries, including Finland, public officials and politicians have also increasingly been purposely targeting LGBTI people for their own gain. This is incredibly harmful, as found in the EU Fundamental Rights Agency’s 2020 survey of LGBTI people, which identified negative public discourse by politicians as one of the key contributing factors in prejudiced social attitudes towards LGBTI people.

With the growing political divide and increasing toxic rhetoric, we need to be more persistent than ever in our support for LGBTI equality, and we need to demand the same from our political leadership. To tackle homophobia and prejudice in Finland, we should start by making schools and workplaces safer and more inclusive, supporting LGBTI youth, and reducing online abuse and hate crimes targeted at LGBTI people. This is not the time to become passive, as the battle is far from over.

The views expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the position of the International Inequalities Institute, the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme, or the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Image credits: Olezzo via Shutterstock. Image shows Helsinki Pride from 2018.