Criminally Queer This book provides a coherent history of criminal law and Criminally homosexuality in Scandinavia 1842–1999, a period during which same-sex love was outlawed or subject to more or less severe legal restrictions in the Scandinavian penal codes. This was the case Queer in most countries in Northern Europe, but the book argues that the development in Scandinavia was different, partly determined by the structure of the welfare state. Homosexuality and Five of the most experienced scholars of the history of homosexuality in the region describe how same-sex desire Criminal Law has been regulated in their respective countries during the in Scandinavia past 160 years. The authors with their backgrounds in history, sociology, and gender studies represent an interdisciplinary 1842–1999 approach to the problem of criminalization of same-sex sexuality. Their contributions, consisting for the most part of previously Jens Rydström and Kati Mustola (eds.) unpublished material, present for the fi rst time a comprehensive history of homosexuality in Scandinavia. Among other things, it includes the most extensive study yet written in any language about Iceland’s gay and lesbian history. Also for the fi rst time, the book discusses in detail same-sex sexuality between women before the law in modern society and presents previously unpublished fi ndings on this topic. Female homosexuality was outlawed in Eastern Scandinavia, but not and Kati Mustola (eds.) Jens Rydström in the Western parts of the region. It also analyzes the modern tendency to include lesbian women in the criminal discourse as an effect of the medicalization of homosexuality and the growing infl uence of medical discourse on the law. a isbn 978 90 5260 245 5 A a CRIMINALLY QUEER “We no more create from nothing the political terms which come to represent our ‘freedom’ than we are responsible for the terms that carry the pain of social injury” Judith Butler, “Critically Queer” Criminally Queer Homosexuality and Criminal Law in Scandinavia, 1842-1999 Jens Rydström and Kati Mustola (eds) a Amsterdam 2007 isbn 978 90 5260 245 5 © Copyright 2007 The authors and Aksant Academic Publishers, Amsterdam. All rights reserved, including those of translation into foreign languages. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, by photoprint, micro- film or any other means, nor transmitted into a machine language without writ- ten permission from the publisher. Cover design: Jos Hendrix, Groningen Photo cover: Sailors in Stockholm ca. 1900. Unknown photographer. Courtesy, Stockholm City Museum Aksant Academic Publishers, Cruquiusweg 31, 1019 AT Amsterdam, The Netherlands Table of contents Preface 9 Introduction: Same-Sex Sexuality and the Law in Scandinavia 1842-1999 13 by Jens Rydström 1. Women and the Laws on Same-Sex Sexuality 41 by Kati Mustola and Jens Rydström 2. Denmark 1866-1976: From Sodomy to Modernity 61 by Wilhelm von Rosen 3. Norway 1842-1972: When Public Interest Demands 91 by Martin Skaug Halsos 4. Iceland 1869-1992: From Silence to Rainbow Revolution 117 by Thorgerdur Thorvaldsdóttir 5. Greenland and the Faroe Islands 1866-1988: Nordic Peripheries 145 by Jens Rydström 6. Sweden 1864-1978: Beasts and Beauties 183 by Jens Rydström 7. Finland 1889-1999: A Turbulent Past 215 by Kati Mustola Appendix 251 by Jens Rydström 6 Criminally Queer List of Tables Table 1. Convictions for “unnatural fornication” and same-sex sexuality in Scandinavia, 1879-1999. 24 Table 2. Frequency of convictions for same-sex sexuality regardless of the age of the persons involved in the five Nordic sovereign states, 1879-1992. 27 Table 3. Frequency of convictions for same-sex sexuality with persons over the age corresponding to the heterosexual age of consent in the five Nordic sovereign states 1880-1999. 29 Table 4. Convictions for violation of section 177 of the Danish Penal Code of 1866 (unnatural intercourse), 1897-1932 64 Table 5. Convictions for violation of section 5 of the Danish Interim Penal Statute (homosexual prostitution), 1911-32. 65 Table 6. Convictions for violation of section 225 (intercourse with a person of the same sex) combined with section 222 (intercourse with minors) of the Danish Penal Code of 1930, 1933-76 81 Table 7. Convictions for violation of section 230 of the Danish Penal Code of 1930 (same-sex prostitution), 1933-67. 81 Table 8. Convictions for sex crimes in Iceland by year, crimes specified when possible, 1885-1925. 121 Table 9. Convictions for violation of chastity in Iceland, 1946-74. 130 Table 10. Prosecutions for sexual crimes in the Faroese Court, 1875-1932. 147 Table 11. Prosecutions for sexual crimes in the Faroese Court, 1933-68. 152 Table 12. Prosecutions for sexual crimes and same-sex sexuality in the Faroese Court, 1959-86. 152 Table 13. Prosecutions for sexual crimes in Greenlandic District Courts, 1938-1948. 167 Table 14. Sexual crimes brought to Greenland’s High Court, 1963-78. 170 Table 15. Types of punishment for same-sex sexual acts in Swedish courts, 1920-44. 193 Table 16. Average length of punishment in months of hard labor for same-sex sexuality in Sweden, according to the age of the sexual partner/victim, 1885-1944. 199 List of Figures Figure 1. Dates for relevant legislation and for founding of homophile or gay/lesbian groups in the Nordic countries. 21 Figure 2. Convictions for same-sex sexuality per 100,000 inhabitants in Denmark, 1897-1976. 80 Table of contents 7 Figure 3. Convictions for same-sex sexuality per 100,000 inhabitants in Norway, 1880-1972. 95 Figure 4. Convictions for same-sex sexuality and bestiality per 100,000 inhabitants in Sweden, 1880-1977. 192 Figure 5. Convictions for same-sex sexuality and bestiality per 100,000 inhabitants in Finland, 1901-99. 221 Preface “You’re a criminologist, but you don’t know it yet!” By means of a sneak attack over the phone some years ago, Kati convinced Jens to cooperate in setting up a research project on same-sex sexuality and criminal law over the past hundred and fifty years. The Scandinavian Council for Criminology (Nordisk Samar- bejdsråd for Kriminologi, NSfK) granted us economic support, and Jens, Kati, Martin and Wilhelm met in Helsinki and drew up plans for the project. Since then we have had meetings in Stockholm, Bergen, and Copenhagen. We soon decided that we should write the book in English. One reason was that we wanted to reach an international audience, and the other was that we wanted the book to be read throughout the Nordic area, and not only in Den- mark, Norway, and Sweden. The languages in Finland and Iceland are so differ- ent from the other Nordic languages that understanding is not automatic. We decided that we wanted to do a thorough criminological survey based on legis- lation and court cases, but expanded to include a discussion of cultural and so- cial history. None of us is a trained criminologist, but we have all done historical research using court records and have a good knowledge of the legal history of our re- spective countries. It was when we began comparing our results that the prob- lems began. Court statistics weren’t comparable, the penal codes of the different countries were differently constructed, and definitions of what counts as a crime varied over time and between jurisdictions. Also, we desperately lacked knowl- edge of the North Atlantic parts of the Nordic community: Iceland, Greenland, and the Faroe Islands. Only when Thorgerdur Thorvaldsdóttir joined the project did it become truly Nordic. Thorgerdur had specialized in history and gender studies, but she had not studied the history of same-sex sexuality and criminal law in Iceland − but then, neither had anybody else. Unlike the rest of us she had to undertake new primary research and dig up court cases in Icelandic ar- chives. With the generous help of Thorvaldur Kristinsson, who had studied the country’s queer history, and by using other sources than the meager court re- cords, Thorgerdur has been able to present a comprehensive history of same-sex sexuality in Iceland. The authors of each chapter will acknowledge those they 10 Criminally Queer are indebted to individually, but collectively we want to thank Thorvaldur quite heartily for generously sharing his knowledge of Icelandic gay and lesbian his- tory with our project. Our lack of knowledge concerning Greenland and the Faroes was partly mended by two trips Jens made there in the summer of 2005. The main purpose of his visits was to investigate the history of the partnership law in the two au- tonomous areas, but he took the opportunity to do some archival work in the Greenlandic High Court and in the Faroese National Archives. He also made interviews to fill in the gaps in his knowledge and participated in the Faroes’ first Pride parade. We all thank Lena Nolsøe of the Faroese National Archives and Søren Søndergaard Hansen of the High Court in Nuuk for the help they granted him, as well as the courageous queers of the Faroes who are making his- tory happen even as we write it. There are others whose help has been instrumental for making this book. First and foremost we thank the NSfK for their financial and moral support, and for letting us discuss the project at the annual NSfK research seminars. We are also indebted to the academic institutions that have provided us with office space and other facilities during the course of the project: the Centre for Gen- der Studies and the History Department at Stockholm University, the Danish National Archives, the Reykjavík Academy and the Centre for Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of Iceland, and the Sociology Department at the University of Helsinki.