Iceland is known as a pioneer for LGBTQ+ rights and one of the most progressive countries in the world. Historically, Iceland wasn’t the safest for LGBTQ+ people, as many people were against the changing notions of gender and sexuality. While it may not have had a LGBTQ+ friendly past, it eventually became one of the first European countries to recognize same-sex partnerships in 1996.Iceland has a lot of laws protecting its LGBTQ+ population (US Department of State Human Rights Report 2019). However, Iceland doesn’t have large quantities of data on its SGM population. There is, however, a decent amount of data on Iceland’s HIV population (UNAIDS 2018). These laws include laws protecting against violence and employment discrimination. Little research has been done for Iceland’s LGBTQ+ population. The primary LGBTQ+ organization, Samtökin ’78provides a lot of community education initiatives, counseling, and legal consultation for LGBTQ+ people.
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Marriage for Same-Sex Couples
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Civil Unions
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Joint Adoption
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Second Parent Adoption
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Employment Nondiscrimination Laws
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Broad Protections
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Criminalization of Violence
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Ban of Conversion Therapy
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*Conversion therapy is not documented to be practiced in Iceland, however, there is no law that bans conversion therapy explicitly.
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Consensual Same-Sex Acts are Legal?
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Gender
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Max Penalty (Yrs in Prison)
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Arnarsson, A., Sveinbjornsdottir, S., Thorsteinsson, E. B., & Bjarnason, T. (2015). Suicidal risk and sexual orientation in adolescence: A population-based study in Iceland. Scandinavian Journal of Public Health 43(5), 497–505. https://doi.org/10.1177/1403494815585402
Gisladottir, B., Gronfeldt, B., Kristjansson, A.L.et al.Psychological Well-Being of Sexual Minority Young Adults in Iceland: Assessing Differences by Sexual Attraction and Gender. Sex Roles78, 822–832 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-017-0847-7
Iceland. 2019. Human Rights Report. United States Department of State. https://www.state.gov/reports/2019-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/iceland/
Josephson, J., Einarsdóttir, Þ., & Sigurðardóttir, S. A. (2017). Queering the trans: Gender and sexuality binaries in Icelandic trans, queer, and feminist communities. European Journal of Women’s Studies, 24(1), 70–84. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350506815625694
Ryan, C., Russell, S.T., Huebner, D., Diaz, R. and Sanchez, J. (2010), Family Acceptance in Adolescence and the Health of LGBT Young Adults. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 23: 205-213. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1744-6171.2010.00246.x