The Norwegian government issued its official apology to homosexuals on Wednesday April 20 on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the decriminalization of homosexuality in the Scandinavian country.
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“I want on behalf of the Norwegian government to ask for forgiveness because gay people have been treated as criminals and prosecuted by the Norwegian authoritiessaid Labor Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.
“Important symbolic value»
According to the government, 119 men were convicted in Norway between 1902 and 1950 for having had sexual intercourse with other men, under a paragraph of the Penal Code finally abolished on April 21, 1972. If homosexuality was punishable by prison, its criminalization also contributed to the stigmatization of homosexuals in the rest of society.
“Criminalizing and prosecuting people for their love life, treating (medically) healthy people, depriving these people of career and work opportunities are serious violations of our values”
Norwegian government in a statement.
“The law had an important symbolic value and caused homosexuals to be exposed to multiple condemnations, discrimination, slander and blackmail.“, underlined the government in a press release.
“Stigma»
“Criminalizing and prosecuting people for their love life, treating (medically) healthy people, depriving these people of career and work opportunities are serious violations of our values“, he added. Gay rights activists have welcomed this official apology, while pointing to areas that still need improvement such as the banning of conversion therapy, the introduction of a legal third sex or access to care for transsexuals. .
“For many of us, it may be too little too late: we know that many people have lived and still live their lives, marked by the stigma“commented the leader of the FRI association, Inge Alexander Gjestvang, on the TV2 channel.
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According to a 2020 report by the International Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex Association (Ilga), homosexuality was banned in 69 countries, including eleven in which it carries the death penalty.
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