The Kejne affair was a political

affair An affair is a sexual relationship, romantic friendship, or passionate attachment in which at least one of its participants has a formal or informal commitment to a third person who may neither agree to such relationship nor even be aware of i ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in the 1950s. In 1948, Karl-Erik Kejne (1913–60), a Swedish Lutheran

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

, publicly accused groups of gay men of threatening him and making attempts on his life. This occurred after he had tried to put an end to gay prostitution in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

. In March 1950, Kejne published a sensationalist article in the newspaper '' Dagens Nyheter'' claiming that the prostitution of underage boys was rampant in the working class districts of Stockholm, being patronised by wealthy and well connected gay men whom the police did not dare arrest. This theme was quickly picked up by several

evening paper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports an ...

s, and reached the proportions of a

witch-hunt A witch-hunt, or a witch purge, is a search for people who have been labeled witches or a search for evidence of witchcraft. The Witch trials in the early modern period, classical period of witch-hunts in Early Modern Europe and European Colon ...

. There was widespread belief in Kejne's

conspiracy theory A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

about a "homosexual mafia", supposedly controlling several criminal gangs of gay men. When a commission was appointed to examine Kejne's allegations, he accused the commission of being infiltrated by the same "homosexual mafia", leading to a new commission, presumably made of straight men, to investigate the first commission. Kejne accused the attorney of corruption, specifically by order of Cabinet minister Nils Quensel. Kejne claimed that Quensel was involved in the groups himself. Kejne also claimed that Quensel ordered the police to send infiltrators posing as gay men to his house, in order to prove that Kejne was himself gay.

Homosexuality Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...

had been decriminalized in Sweden in 1944. A commission was formed to address these issues. In 1951, when they could not clear Quensel of all charges, he chose to resign as a Cabinet minister. The author

Vilhelm Moberg Karl Artur Vilhelm Moberg (20 August 1898 – 8 August 1973) was a Swedish journalist, author, playwright, historian, and debater. His literary career, spanning more than 45 years, is associated with his series ''The Emigrants''. The four ...

wrote at length about the Kejne affair, and also brought the

Haijby affair The Haijby scandal (''Haijbyaffären'') was a political affair in Sweden in the 1950s, involving the conviction and imprisonment of restaurateur Kurt Haijby for the supposed blackmail of King Gustaf V. Haijby claimed that he had a secret homos ...

to public knowledge.

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Books

* Robert Aldrich, Garry Wotherspoon, ''Who's who in gay and lesbian history: from antiquity to World War II'', Routledge, 2001, , p.239 Political scandals in Sweden Sex scandals in Sweden LGBT history in Sweden Political sex scandals LGBT-related controversies {{Sweden-history-stub

See also

References

Books