LGBTQ+ rights divided the West Nordic Council at its annual meeting in Akureyri, Iceland, after a proposal urging the governments of Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands to support LGBTQ+ organisations met strong opposition from two Faroese parliamentarians. The recommendation was nevertheless approved by 10 votes to four, with two abstentions.
The proposal was introduced by Icelandic MPs Jón Gnarr and Ása Berglind Hjálmarsdóttir, together with Greenlandic MP Pipaluk Lynge, during the council meeting at Hof in Akureyri. It calls on the three governments to discuss common challenges facing LGBTQ+ people and strengthen measures against discrimination and prejudice.
A proposal on LGBTQ+ rights passed 10 to 4
According to RÚV, the recommendation asks the Government of Iceland, Greenland’s government (Naalakkersuisut) and the Government of the Faroe Islands (Landsstýrið) to support the work of LGBTQ+ advocacy organisations in their respective territories.
The organisations concerned are Samtökin ’78, the National Queer Organisation of Iceland, Sipineq+ in Greenland and LGBT+ Føroyar in the Faroe Islands.
The text also recommends that the governments address shared challenges in their national action plans against discrimination and prejudice.
The proposal passed relatively comfortably, with 10 members voting in favour, four against and two abstaining.
A separate amendment proposed by Jón Gnarr went further, calling on the governments to provide premises or office space for the organisations. That amendment was rejected by 12 votes to two.
Strong opposition from two Faroese representatives
The debate became contentious after Faroese parliamentarians Jørgen Niclasen, a former chair of the People’s Party (Fólkaflokkurin), and Hermann Samuelsen of the Union Party (Sambandsflokkurin) spoke strongly against the proposal.
Niclasen argued that support for LGBTQ+ organisations should remain a domestic matter and that the West Nordic Council should focus on issues that unite its members. He also accused Jón Gnarr of using the initiative for domestic political purposes in Iceland.
According to RÚV, Niclasen said organisations of this kind should not receive state funding because, in his view, they create division. Samuelsen also spoke critically about transgender issues during the debate.
The Faroese public broadcaster Kringvarp Føroya separately reported that Niclasen and Samuelsen had strongly opposed a proposal encouraging each of the three governments to support LGBTQ+ organisations.
Their positions did not represent the council as a whole, however, as the recommendation ultimately secured a clear majority.
Jón Gnarr said he was shocked by the debate
Jón Gnarr, who chairs the Icelandic delegation, told RÚV that he had expected some Faroese opposition but not the language used during the meeting.
“I think this is absolutely appalling,” he said, adding that he had been asked to withdraw the proposal and accused of damaging the cooperation built within the council.
Gnarr described the recommendation as a limited request for governments to consider how they could support people facing discrimination. He also said the episode illustrated what he sees as a significant difference between Iceland and the Faroe Islands in the development of LGBTQ+ rights.
He expressed concern that the dispute could affect relations within the council, although he said he hoped this would not happen.
A disagreement inside a small regional organisation
The West Nordic Council is the parliamentary cooperation body linking Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands. It has 18 members, six from each parliament, and works on shared issues including environmental policy, natural resources, education, culture and regional cooperation.
Its structure gives the three delegations equal representation despite considerable differences in population, political institutions and their relationships with Denmark and the European Union.
The dispute in Akureyri therefore went beyond the substance of a single recommendation. It exposed different views about whether civil rights and support for advocacy organisations should form part of West Nordic cooperation at all.
At the same time, the result of the vote shows that the opposition expressed by Niclasen and Samuelsen did not prevent a majority of representatives from endorsing cooperation on LGBTQ+ issues.
The episode highlights how political and social differences can emerge even within the closely connected West Nordic region, where Iceland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands cooperate on a broad range of common interests. Whether the disagreement will have consequences for future work in the council remains unclear, but the 10-to-4 vote has already placed LGBTQ+ rights more firmly on its political agenda.
