LGBT rights in Greenland
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Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights in Greenland are some of the most extensive in the
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and the world, relatively similar to those in
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
proper in
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. Same-sex sexual activity is legal, with an equal age of consent, and there are some anti-discrimination laws protecting LGBT people. Same-sex couples had access to
registered partnerships A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
, which provided them with nearly all of the rights provided to married opposite-sex couples, from 1996 to 2016. On 1 April 2016, a law repealing the registered partnership act and allowing for
same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
s to be performed came into effect. In 1979, Denmark granted
Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland is t ...
home rule and in 2009 extended self-government, although it still influences the island's culture and politics. Greenland is considered to be very socially liberal towards LGBT people. Acceptance of homosexuality and same-sex relationships is high, and reports of discrimination against LGBT people are rare. Nonetheless, due to Greenland's small and scattered population, many Greenlandic LGBT people have moved to
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
in Denmark.


Law regarding same-sex sexual activity

As is the case with Denmark, same-sex sexual activity is not a crime. It was legalized by Denmark in 1933, and the
age of consent The age of consent is the age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. Consequently, an adult who engages in sexual activity with a person younger than the age of consent is unable to legally claim ...
was equalized in 1977 at 15, two years prior to
home rule Home rule is government of a colony, dependent country, or region by its own citizens. It is thus the power of a part (administrative division) of a state or an external dependent country to exercise such of the state's powers of governance wit ...
.


Recognition of same-sex relationships

Greenland adopted Denmark's
registered partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
law on 1 July 1996. There was some opposition to registered partnerships from clergy and conservative lawmakers, who later chose to abstain from voting. The bill was passed in the Greenlandic Parliament 15–0 with 12 abstentions, and later by the Danish Parliament 104–1. The first same-sex couple to register did so in 2002. Registered partnerships are called ''nalunaarsukkamik inooqatigiinneq'' in Greenlandic. In March 2015, MP Justus Hansen, from the Democrats, introduced a bill to legalise same-sex marriage in Greenland, which also included adoption rights and other changes to Greenlandic family law. The bill was approved unanimously (27–0) by the Parliament of Greenland on 26 May 2015, but required Danish approval before coming into effect. Initially, the bill was to come into effect on 1 October 2015, but lapsed due to the Danish general elections in June 2015. The parliamentary procedure therefore had to start over and the new Venstre Government put an identical bill on the agenda for its first reading on 5 November 2015. On 19 January 2016, the
Folketing The Folketing ( da, Folketinget, ; ), also known as the Parliament of Denmark or the Danish Parliament in English, is the unicameral national legislature (parliament) of the Kingdom of Denmark—Denmark proper together with the Faroe Islands ...
(Danish Parliament) approved the proposal 108–0 and the bill was given
royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...
by Queen
Margrethe II Margrethe II (; Margrethe Alexandrine Þórhildur Ingrid, born 16 April 1940) is Queen of Denmark. Having reigned as Denmark's monarch for over 50 years, she is Europe's longest-serving current head of state and the world's only incumbent femal ...
on 3 February 2016. The parts of the law relating to marriage went into effect on 1 April 2016. Same-sex marriage became legal on 1 April 2016. Application in Greenland of the registered partnership law was repealed the day the new marriage law took effect.


Adoption and family planning

Same-sex couples in registered partnerships have been permitted to adopt their stepchildren since 1 June 2009. A law regarding
in vitro fertilization In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro ("in glass"). The process involves monitoring and stimulating an individual's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova (egg or eggs) ...
(IVF) for female couples was approved in 2006. The parts of the same-sex marriage law allowing same-sex couples to adopt children jointly went into effect on 1 July 2016.


Discrimination protections

Since 2010, Greenland has outlawed hate speech and provided penalty enhancements to
hate crime A hate crime (also known as a bias-motivated crime or bias crime) is a prejudice-motivated crime which occurs when a perpetrator targets a victim because of their membership (or perceived membership) of a certain social group or racial demograph ...
s motivated by sexual orientation. Article 100 of the Criminal Code prohibits speech which may deprive, threaten or demean individuals on the basis of their sexual orientation, among other categories. Greenland possesses no anti-discrimination laws in employment, goods and services, health services or education. Danish anti-discrimination laws do not apply to Greenland. Greenland's only anti-discrimination law is ''Act no. 3 of November 29, 2013 on equality between men and women'' ( kl, Angutit arnallu naligiissitaanissaat pillugu Inatsisartut inatsisaat nr. 3, 29. november 2013-meersoq; da, Inatsisartutlov nr. 3 af 29. november 2013 om ligestilling af mænd og kvinder) which bans gender-based discrimination only. The Human Rights Council of Greenland, funded by the state budget, promotes and protects human rights in Greenland. It is commissioned to participate in the strengthening and consolidation of human rights, and works closely with the
Danish Institute for Human Rights The Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR) is a national human rights institution (NHRI) operating in accordance with the UN Paris Principles. The DIHR was originally established as the Danish Centre for Human Rights by a parliamentary decision ...
. Other than taking a case to court or referring to the Greenlandic Ombudsman, no national complaints procedure exists in which one can bring forth legal complaints of discrimination. Nevertheless, incidents of discrimination based on sexual orientation are rare.


Transgender rights

The ''Act on Sterilisation and Castration'' ( kl, Kinguaassiorsinnaajunnaarsagaaneq pillugu inatsit; da, Lov om sterilisation og kastration) of the
Realm of Denmark The Danish Realm ( da, Danmarks Rige; fo, Danmarkar Ríki; kl, Danmarkip Naalagaaffik), officially the Kingdom of Denmark (; ; ), is a sovereign state located in Northern Europe and Northern North America. It consists of metropolitan Denma ...
came into force in Greenland in 1975, allowing sex changes in the country. Transgender people in Greenland may change the sex designation on their official identity documents. A law passed in 2016 by decree allows legal sex changes based on self-determination. Transgender people can apply to change their legal gender without undergoing sex reassignment surgery,
hormone therapy Hormone therapy or hormonal therapy is the use of hormones in medical treatment. Treatment with hormone antagonists may also be referred to as hormonal therapy or antihormone therapy. The most general classes of hormone therapy are oncologic horm ...
, sterilization or receiving a medical diagnosis. Since 2016, Greenlanders over 18 years of age who wish to apply for a legal sex change can do so by stating that they want to change their documentation, followed by a six-month-long "reflection period" to confirm the request. Besides male and female,
Greenlandic passport * Something of, from, or related to Greenland, a country * List of people from Greenland *Greenlandic Inuit are people identified with the country of Greenland, or of Greenlandic descent: see Demographics of Greenland ** List of Greenlandic Inuit ...
s are available with an "X" sex descriptor.


LGBT rights movement in Greenland

Due to the small and scattered population, there is virtually no gay scene in Greenland. Some nightclubs and bars in the capital Nuuk have a mixed gay and straight crowd. Many Greenlandic LGBT people have moved to Nuuk, Sisimiut,
Ilulissat Ilulissat, formerly Jakobshavn or Jacobshaven, is the municipal seat and largest town of the Avannaata municipality in western Greenland, located approximately north of the Arctic Circle. With the population of 4,670 as of 2020, it is the t ...
or
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
in Denmark. There was an LGBT rights organization called "Qaamaneq" (Light) from 2002 to 2007 which organized social and cultural events. The organization was reestablished in 2014 as LGBT Qaamaneq. LGBT activist Hajlmar Dahl states that homophobia is more prevalent in smaller remote communities. ''GlobalGayz'' describes Greenland as a model for LGBT rights; " for gay marriage ... Greenland was distinct among almost every other country in the world. The issue caused virtually no one's heart to skip a beat. Other countries that now allow gay marriage experienced dramatic demonstrations, resistance and delay, even in Denmark .... In Greenland there were no demands in the streets for marriage equality, no lengthy advocacy, very little governmental debate and virtually no media coverage. Indeed, one native said 'gay rights have come from the work of straight people'." The legalisation of registered partnerships in 1996 and same-sex marriage in 2016 fueled very little opposition and stirred little to no debate. On 15 May 2010, Greenland held its first
pride parade A pride parade (also known as pride march, pride event, or pride festival) is an outdoor event celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer culture, queer (LGBTQ) social and self-acceptance, achievements, LGBT rights by country o ...
in Nuuk. It was attended by about 1,000 people.


Summary table


See also

* LGBT rights in Denmark *
LGBT rights in the Americas Laws governing lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights are complex in the Americas, and acceptance of LGBT persons varies widely. Same-sex marriages are currently legal in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, ...
*
LGBT rights by country or territory Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...
* Nuuk Pride


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lgbt Rights in Greenland 1933 in law
LGBT rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 33 ...