Finland Must Uncompromisingly Defend LGBTIQ+ Rights in its Foreign and Development Policy
KIOS has been actively involved with other civil society organizations in raising the importance of LGBTIQ+ rights within the framework of Finnish foreign and development policy. LGBTIQ+ individuals face discrimination and an increased threat of violence worldwide. Same-sex sexual relations are criminalized in over 60 countries, often as a colonial legacy. A significant factor behind the intensification of discrimination is the internationally funded and networked anti-gender movement, which opposes human rights by invoking a fabricated threat of “gender ideology.” Seta’s Secretary-General and KIOS board member, Kerttu Tarjamo, provided insights into the collaboration between organizations and the implementation of LGBTIQ+ rights in Finland’s foreign and development policy.
Finland is globally recognized as a “LGBTIQ+-friendly” country and has promoted LGBTIQ+ rights on various international forums. Kerttu Tarjamo, who has long been involved in advancing LGBTIQ+ human rights, has witnessed how their promotion varies politically depending on leadership and the global political situation.
Currently, Kerttu serves as the Secretary-General of Seta, a position she has held for eight years. During her time at Seta, collaboration with the Finnish civil society sector, including KIOS, has been consistently close. Organizations have exchanged thoughts on the state of LGBTIQ+ rights and the need to strengthen a human rights-based approach in Finland’s foreign and development policy.
“KIOS has strong expertise in human rights-based development cooperation, while Seta has extensive knowledge of LGBTIQ+ issues and international relationships with LGBTIQ+ movement. Recently, collaboration has intensified, and information has been shared about different situations and the effects of the anti-LGBTIQ+ rights movement on LGBTIQ+ people and those defending their rights. The cooperation has largely been expert knowledge exchange,” Kerttu explains about the collaboration between Seta and KIOS. Currently, Kerttu also serves as the Vice Chair of the KIOS board and has been a board member for several years.
Promoting LGBTIQ+ Rights Through Cooperation
In Finland, several organizations work on LGBTIQ+ rights, and broader cooperation occurs between various organizations. A key example Kerttu highlights is a background paper developed jointly by Seta, KIOS, Väestöliitto, and Amnesty, which combined their expertise to compile recommendations for actions to make Finland a stronger global defender of LGBTIQ+ people’s rights. The insight enables a more coordinated advocacy work for LGBTIQ+ rights. Joint goals and actions are particularly important at a time when LGBTIQ+ rights face strong opposition worldwide.
In Finland, there has been significant positive development in equality and non-discrimination. One of the good aspects is a broad and diverse civil society. At the same time, the human rights-based approach has been a fundamental aspect of foreign and development policy.
“For a long time, Finland has included policies related to LGBTIQ+ rights in its international human rights policy, which has been very important. However, there is some political variation in how actively, for example, LGBTIQ+ people’s rights have been promoted internationally,” Kerttu outlines.
Need for Support, Does Finland Have Political Leadership?
Currently, there is a need for systematic and strong support for LGBTIQ+ rights in international organizations such as the UN and the EU, as these rights face various attacks.
“There has been a significant difference between governments in their willingness to demonstrate political leadership regarding LGBTIQ+ rights. This is one thing Finland should do more strongly: uncompromisingly defend LGBTIQ+ people’s rights in its foreign and development policy,” says Kerttu.
As an example, Kerttu suggests advocating for the decriminalization of all acts targeting LGBTIQ+ people or that Finland would raise these issues in bilateral discussions. Also, the foreign affairs officials should systematically receive training on promoting LGBTIQ+ rights as part of Finland’s foreign and development policy.
Funding needed for LGBTIQ+ Movement to function
Securing funding to promote LGBTIQ+ rights is an important aspect. According to Kerttu, Finland, relative to its size, has taken LGBTIQ+ rights well into account, and with the program support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, KIOS can flexibly promote and fund the LGBTIQ+ movement. However, she notes that overall funding amounts for supporting LGBTIQ+ rights are still quite moderate, both in Finland and globally.
“Securing funding is important and should be strengthened. Attention should also be paid to ensuring that the voices of LGBTIQ+ actors are heard in projects and that they have ownership of the activities. Seta has emphasized supporting various regional and global LGBTIQ+ organizations, enabling operations in challenging environments where regional support is crucial for local activists. Funding should also be long-term to achieve results,” Kerttu explains.
Human Rights-Based Approach to LGBTIQ+ Rights needs Strengthening
There is also a need to clarify what the human rights-based approach in development policy means for LGBTIQ+ rights.
“What does it mean from the perspective of LGBTIQ+ rights? What do we expect from development actors and projects?” Kerttu asks and continues:
“We can think that as long as a project does not directly harm LGBTIQ+ people, it is okay. However, in many countries that strongly maintain gender or relationship norms, these projects can be indirectly harmful or exclude LGBTIQ+ people.”
Therefore, it is essential to assess the impact of projects on LGBTIQ+ rights to ensure they also consider the human rights of LGBTIQ+ individuals. Kerttu highlights KIOS’s good practices in ensuring that human rights actors consider equality in their activities and commit to it. There is much potential to learn from this also in the Finnish development sector.
Considering LGBTIQ+ Rights in All Activities
According to Kerttu, taking LGBTIQ+ rights into account across all activities is important from two perspectives. Firstly, in the countries where development cooperation is carried out:
“The state of LGBTIQ+ rights is generally weak in these countries. LGBTIQ+ rights correlate with the rule of law and democracy. Promoting LGBTIQ+ rights is often heavily stigmatized. If development policy does not promote equality for all, it maintains discriminatory structures.”
Secondly, from the perspective of achieving sustainable development goals:
“If LGBTIQ+ people cannot participate in education or employment due to discrimination, the sustainable development or Agenda2030 goals will never be achieved for them. They will not benefit from development. Achieving the goals requires considering the diversity of people and the various barriers to their inclusion in development.”
Promoting LGBTIQ+ rights is thus essential to ensure inclusion for all and to avoid wasting the potential of LGBTIQ+ people.
Listening to the Local LGBTIQ+ Movements in Challenging Situations
Kerttu points out that KIOS operates in areas where the situation is generally challenging from the perspective of LGBTIQ+ rights. Despite this, there is a strong LGBTIQ+ movement and civil society in these areas.
“In such challenging conditions, the LGBTIQ+ movement needs external support to secure its operations. Local LGBTIQ+ organizations play a crucial role in advocating for legal changes to be more LGBTIQ+-friendly and supporting the local LGBTIQ+ community, which faces immense pressure and threats,” emphasizes Kerttu.
What kind of requests then comes from the LGBTIQ+ movement itself?
“In terms of funding, it involves listening to their needs and trusting that they know what works best in their context. Flexibility in funding is also crucial because the contexts are so challenging. What if the situation changes quickly? How can the movement’s operations be secured? In these situations, it is impossible to meet all Western funding requirements when practical work needs to be focused on,” Kerttu says.
“Often, we hear that different country situations and issues need to be raised and highlighted. How this is done depends on what activists want – they usually know what is required. Sometimes it involves loud statements and advocacy, sometimes it requires quiet diplomacy. Whenever something is done, it is important to check with local actors about their wishes. In this, Finnish civil society organizations serve as important mediators.”
Safety of LGBTIQ+ Activists is a concern
Another issue Kerttu raises is situations where human rights defenders need protection. Bureaucratic obstacles often impede in this. Finland, for example, lacks visa practices for such situations.
“Finland has been quite weak in providing protection for activists. We do not yet have an emergency visa mechanism; hopefully, it will come someday. In this, we as activist are quite frustrated, as we know Finland has the capacity to offer protection and safety. These are very unfortunate situations.”
As an interesting example, Kerttu mentions Germany, which has implemented a specific LGBTIQ+ action plan in foreign and development policy.
“The program systematically examines how Germany can better consider LGBTIQ+ people’s rights as part of foreign and development policy. I hope Finland can create something similar someday,” Kerttu says.
Glimmers of Positive Development in regards of LGBTIQ+ Rights
According to Kerttu, the long-term trend is improving. Development does vary globally, but there are glimmers of hope, for example, in Asia.
“In Japan, there is growing societal pressure to make some kind of solutions, which could have a broader impact if the social climate changes there. Thailand recently approved same-sex marriage. Additionally, there is small positive development in India, which gives hope.”
“Even in countries where LGBTIQ+-hostile decisions have been made, such as Russia or Uganda, there is a strong LGBTIQ+ civil society that strives to resist and bring about positive change. LGBTIQ+ activists and organizations are often the ones who defend human rights, democracy, and the rule of law more broadly in their countries. If these issues are important to Finland, support should be directed also to them.”
Persistent Efforts Lead to Positive Change in Finland and Globally
In Finland, human rights seem to be facing a backlash, and Kerttu emphasizes that Pride-events feel now more necessary than ever. The hostile atmosphere is particularly worrying, manifesting as harassment and hate actions at LGBTIQ+ events. However, in the long term, positive change is happening:
“As Seta is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, it makes this a good time to reflect on the changes achieved in Finland. Sometimes we take steps backward. What is required is long-term and persistent efforts to achieve change. And yes, positive changes are happening,” Kerttu concludes. Pride events in Finland are especially important when nearby areas have banned them or face significant threats of violence.
Therefore, it is crucial to be present at Pride events to defend LGBTIQ+ and human rights. There is also room for joy:
“When the gas attack at Helsinki Pride happened about 10 years ago, it was noted in court that a demonstration does not require a certain style. Pride is obviously an event for the equality of LGBTIQ+ people. At the same time, it is a celebration of the rich diversity of LGBTIQ+ people – the fact that people are express joy does not negate the importance of it being a significant political event,” Kerttu reminds us.
KIOS defends LGBTIQ+ and human rights every day of the year. KIOS is also participating in the Pride parade in Helsinki on Saturday to highlight LGBTIQ+ rights as human rights.