Homophobic outburst mars concert

Police intervention was required to prevent a man forcibly taking down a rainbow flag flying outside a church in Seltjarnarnes, Greater Reykjavik.

On Saturday, members of the Reykjavik Queer Choir gathered at Seltjarnarnes to entertain the crowd of excited guests with their annual Spring Concert.

Rainbow flag “unacceptable”

Preparations for the event were, however, marred by the disruptive appearance of a young man in his twenties an hour before the concert was scheduled to begin.

According to an account of events given by Gunn­laug­ur Bragi Björns­son, President of the Choir, the man declared that it was unacceptable for a rainbow flag to be flying outside an Icelandic church given the Bible’s clear position on homosexuality.

“Nothing against you people”

“As is usually the case with such outbursts of prejudice, the man assured us that he had “nothing against you people”, but that the flag must come down and that a society like ours had no business in a church,” writes Björns­son on the Choir’s Facebook page.

The first reaction of the church staff was to comply with the man’s demands and suggest taking down the flag. The Choir managed, however, to persuade the parish vicar to allow them to keep the flag flying.

Björns­son expressed his surprise at the church’s reaction, pointing out that the Choir has performed in churches before and always flown the rainbow flag.

“The battle is not over”

The man then attempted forcibly to remove the flag, while continuing his diatribe and insulting Choir members. The police were called in to remove the man – which they did, displaying impeccable behaviour towards the Choir, according to Björns­son.

“Incidents such as this remind us that the battle is not over,” writes Björns­son. “LGBT people are still subjected to harassment and discrimination in Icelandic society despite enjoying a strong legal status. This kind of person demonstrates why societies such as the Reykjavik Queer Choir are necessary. Together, we can all work towards a better world and gradually bring about social equality for everybody.”

Iceland - happiest gay community in the world

This incident comes just one day after reports that Iceland tops a world classification by PlanetRomeo of 127 countries measuring ‘gay happiness’. The index assesses countries on three criteria – public opinion, public behaviour and life satisfaction – and can be consulted here.