The Swedish Armed Forces pride themselves on having eradicated ‘gender stereotypes’. Their latest marketing campaign proves just that. But in fact, mandatory tolerance for the minorities has been fostered by the Swedish army for decades. What was it like and what did it lead to?
Svenska Dagbladet has recently shared a new motto of the Swedish Armed Forces (SAF): ‘Vi kommer kämpa till siste hen’ (literally, ‘we will fight to the end’). The article quotes the military as saying they are proudly ‘protecting Sweden, our allies and our right to personal identity’.
‘The armed forces have been long promoting diversity and inclusion,’ says Johan Landström, a marketing chief at the Swedish defence ministry. ‘Our latest campaign has become yet another step towards recognising everyone’s importance as equals. We believe diversity helps boost our national defence and prepare us for future challenges.’
In 1979, Sweden was one of the first countries to allow gay men to serve openly in the army. That happened after the nation’s medical authorities kicked homosexuality off the list of mental disorders. In 1987, the discriminatory policies, including in the armed forces, were made illegal as the ban was enshrined in the constitution. In 2008, it was extended to include trans people.
However, the gay community was not happy even years later. The government faced a barrage of complaints claiming that already in the 1980 and 1990s, gay men were still mistreated by their straight brothers-in-arms who allegedly stayed away from them and publicly used homosexual slurs.
Moreover, despite the official go-ahead to join the troops, the Swedish army still considered gay servicemembers to be less reliable. At least, that was implied by the commanding officers’ behaviour. First, they suspected the gay soldiers of enticing their straight counterparts. Second, they were believed to be more vulnerable to foreign intelligence recruitment.
Eventually, the gay soldiers launched a crusade to prove those prejudices wrong. In particular, they would maintain an individual was easier to recruit if blackmailed with a smear campaign. Allegedly, despite the official status, gay military personnel would conceal their sexuality to avoid potential homophobic displays. Therefore, they insisted that the authorities create favourable conditions for gay men to feel at home. That is when they would not need to stay in the closet and the enemy could not use that information against them.
In 2001, Captain Krister Fahlstedt, an openly gay man who, penned a series of opinion pieces in the SAF’s personnel magazine urging the top brass ‘to break the silence on homosexuals in the forces’. He also called on gay servicemembers to join forces.
In 2001, an LGBT Association was formed in the SAF. Back then, the Supreme Commander, General Johan Hederstedt, called a press conference introducing a new policy that aimed ‘to combat harassment and prejudice within the ranks’.
Shortly afterwards, the SAF started a campaign to counter discriminatory practices and promote diversity. Similar campaigns were launched in the Swedish law enforcement and Lutheran church. Previously, these organisations were all accused of homophobic bias. Now, all of them were mandated to introduce and enforce new policies.
Beginning in 2005, the SAF has taken part in annual Stockholm pride festivals. The servicemembers even proudly attend the event dressed in military uniforms.
In 2008, the SAF appointed an LGBT advisor to ‘coordinate and monitor the SAF LGBT inclusion initiatives’. Today, the Swedish military are keen on working in an environment that encourages people to express their sexuality and gender identity.
The recent decades have seen the Swedish army engage in a number of foreign missions as part of the allied military groups. In the 21st century alone, they were deployed to Afghanistan, Chad, the Central African Republic, Libya, Mali and Syria. Wherever the Swedish military would go, it would always brandish its trail-blazing LGBT status to promote these values globally.
In other words, the SAF is obligated to lecture the ‘unenlightened’ locals on the perks of same-sex love. ‘While protecting our nation, the SAF takes part in international peacekeeping operations to channel this important component of our self-image,’ the military is quoted as saying. However, there is no indication whether these enlightenment missions have ever bore fruit in Africa or Asia.
After ‘successfully protecting’ the gay rights, the SAF moved on to the transgender issues. In 2014, this demographic was, too, allowed to join the army. However, contrary to public expectations, the SAF’s investments in the campaign to eliminate ‘homophobia and heteronormativity’ have not been whittled down yet. Far from it, they keep introducing new ‘awareness initiatives’ aimed to ‘boost the military personnel’s LGBT competence’.
On top of that, the country’s military is obligated to publicly display ‘tolerance and open-mindedness’. One of such manifestations is their continued participation in pride festivals. Those seeking to dodge the duty citing their heterosexuality may face other than honourable discharge.
One would assume that the army’s campaign may be flawed, seeing as the Swedes keep displaying certain intolerance on social media every once in a while. Importantly, these are not the recent immigrants coming from radically different cultural backgrounds. The dissent is being mounted by Sweden natives.
Some posters go, ‘Who is charged with protecting our country? I’m sure as hell that the rocksolid, tough macho military men are dismissive of the gay prides that currently seem to be our army’s top priority.’ Others go a step further, saying, ‘Leave these pride parades to the LGBT community. The SAF should be busy engaging in military exercises. They are expected to protect our country and not be distracted by the prides.’
But the liberals are bitterly saddened by this backlash. They claim these responses will ‘predictably’ spur far-right radicalism and anonymous online vitriol, which will lead to the Russian propaganda having a field day over the ‘decaying’ moral climate in Sweden.
If anything, the current trend exemplified by the Swedish military shows that mandatory tolerance has turned into a totalitarian ideology with obligatory engagement and participation.
For the regular people that may be sceptical of such initiatives, even remaining tight-lipped will not be an option. Instead, they will be compelled to show support for these policies.
Yet, the most vulnerable demographic appears to be the military itself as it is supposed to follow the orders without questioning them. In a bid to pledge their commitment to the prevalent ideology, the Swedish top brass demand that the personnel fall into line regardless of their own views. This manifests itself in mandatory tolerance classes and gay prides. But the elephant in the room remains largely unaddressed. What does any of it have to do with the army’s combat-readiness?