15-06-2017

Same-sex marriage legalised in the Faroe Islands

Homosexual couples will be able to marry in the Faroe Islands after the parliament passed an amendment to the Marriage Act on May 30.

Loud cheering, hugging and even a few tears set the mood in the Faroese parliament as a majority of the MPs voted in favour of legalising same-sex marriage. Sirið Stenberg, minister for the interior and public affairs, said it could take three months for the amendment to come into effect.

Eiler Fagraklett, head of LGBT Faroe Islands, said: “It was an intense, exciting and unpredictable moment. When the MPs finally passed the amendment to the bill and thereby granted us with equal rights, it came as a huge relief.”

The MPs who introduced the bill were Bjørt Samuelsen (Republican Party), Hanna Jensen (Progressive Party), Kristianna Winther Poulsen (Social Democratic Party) and Sonja Jógvansdóttir (independent). Jógvansdóttir is also the first openly gay MP in the Faroe Islands.

According to the bill, the Church of the Faroe Islands is not obliged to wed couples by the same sex.

“For the coming generations of LGBT people, it will make a world of difference to be able to enjoy the same rights as other citizens. Life has been made a lot better and easier for us in the Faroe Islands, ” Fagraklett said.

As head of the LGBT movement in the Faroe Islands, Fagraklett has been one of the front figures lobbying for the legalisation of same-sex marriage.

“I started campaigning for a change in the law six years ago out of principle. Since then I’ve become engaged, which means that this time around I was also fighting to be able to marry the man I love,” Fagraklett said.

LGBT Faroe Islands was founded in 2011. Every year thousands of people participate in Faroe Pride, which takes place just before Ólavsøka, the national day, at the end of July.

Words: Eir Nolsøe

Sub-editor: Rebecca-May Honeybone

Pic: LGBT Føroyar