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Denmark launches first LGBT action plan

Christian Wenande
June 6th, 2018


This article is more than 6 years old.

42 initiatives to tackle ignorance, intolerance and insecurity  

All colours are part of our future (photo: um.dk)

For the first time ever, a Danish government has launched a LGBT action plan in a bid to prevent discrimination and promote equal opportunity and security for the LGBT community.

The plan contains 42 initiatives and the equality minister, Eva Kjer Hansen, wants to face up and challenge a current environment that has borne alarming stats for the community – such as how one half of all Danish gay people avoid openly holding hands for fear of violence, threats or harassment.

“We won’t accept that the rights of gay and transgendered people are being abused. We won’t accept that this group must generally live a worse and unsafe life,” said Hansen.

“The figures we can read regarding safety, well-being and suicide are sad and too high. But it’s even worse when looking at ethnic minority groups, in which a third have thought of suicide. It speaks of a history and culture in which ignorance and intolerance fester when it comes to being gay and transgendered.”

READ MORE: Denmark to unveil historic LGBT initiative

Ignorance is not bliss
According to recent stats, 40 percent of gay and transgendered people are not open about their sexuality or gender identity at work, while 22 percent of new Danes believe that homosexuality is an illness.

Among the 42 initiatives are improving guidance, networking opportunities and support groups, while more focus is being levelled at promoting openness and inclusion in the labour market and for LGBTs from ethnic minority groups.

In terms of health, a new centre will be established with the purpose of collecting and distributing knowledge on the LGBT arena, while more information will be given to parents of children who have a variation in gender characteristics.

Read more about the historic LGBT action plan here (in Danish).


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Moreover, 21 percent of those surveyed admitted to medicating their kids with paracetamol, such as Panodil, before sending them to school.

The FOLA parents’ organisation is shocked by the findings.

“I think it is absolutely crazy. It simply cannot be that a child goes to school sick and plays with lots of other children. Then we are faced with the fact that they will infect the whole institution,” said FOLA chair Signe Nielsen.

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At the Børnehuset daycare institution in Silkeborg a meeting was called where parents were implored not to bring their sick children to school.

At Børnehuset there are fears that parents prefer to pack their kids off with a pill without informing teachers.

“We occasionally have children who that they have had a pill for breakfast,” said headteacher Susanne Bødker. “You might think that it is a Panodil more than a vitamin pill, if it is a child who has just been sick, for example.”

Parents sick and tired
Parents, when confronted, often cite pressure at work as a reason for not being able to stay at home with their children.

Many declare that they simply cannot take another day off, as they are afraid of being fired.

Allan Randrup Thomsen, a professor of virology at KU, has heavily criticised the parents’ actions, describing the current situation as a “vicious circle”.

“It promotes the spread of viruses, and it adds momentum to a cycle where parents are pressured by high levels of sick-leave. If they then choose to send the children to daycare while they are still recovering, they keep the epidemic going in daycares, and this in turn puts a greater burden on the parents.”