Pride festivals have become a permanent part of summers in Finland
Besides being the happiest country worldwide, various surveys now converge that Finland is emerging out to be one of the most LGBTQIA+ friendly countries in the world, too, says the state tourism body Visit Finland in a press statement.
According to the 2021 gender-equality based research foundation Williams Institute report, which surveyed people from across 175 countries, Finland is a very minority-aware country owing to its progressive outlook and policies that protect the LGBTQIA+ community against discrimination. In fact, Finland is one of the safest and most LGBTQIA+-friendly countries in the world, it adds.
Hannu Medina
“Not only is Finland a safe travel destination, but also an extremely beautiful one. The peace, calm, and vastness of nature are unparalleled. From Helsinki, the capital of Finland, it only takes an hour to the middle of a national park,” says Hannu Medina, Founder of We Speak Gay and Gay Travel Finland, blogger and expert on LGBTQIA+ travel.
According to the statement by Visit Finland, the surveys are substantiated with the numerous pride-celebratory features of the Nordic country. For instance, pride festivals have become a permanent part of summer in not only larger cities such as Helsinki, Tampere, and Turku, but also in smaller cities of the country as there are over 40 pride events around Finland, says the statement.
It adds that The Tom of Finland exhibition, which opened a few months back in the Museum of Contemporary Art Kiasma in Helsinki, highlighted Tom’s body of work that celebrated homosexuality in contemporary art and visual culture. Finnish artist Touko Valio Laaksonen, known by the pseudonym Tom of Finland, was one of the most influential figures of 20th-century gay culture.
“Finland belongs to the leading nations in the world when it comes to legislation that protects LGBTQIA+ rights. The recently passed law that defends the rights of transgender people, lifts Finland into a small group of merely 20 countries that have passed such a law. This is progression in its prime,” says Medina.
Yet another addition to its line-up of LGBTQIA-friendly options in the city includes Kuori, a female and LGBTQIA-owned vegetarian and vegan restaurant located in Turku. The statement adds that visitors can also travel with LGBTQIA+ friendly operator Aurora Holidays. Located in Utsjoki, it offers visitors experiences of Northern Lights chasing and outdoor activities in the Finnish Lapland.
Visit Finland says that the country hosts aplenty LGBTQIA-friendly hotels too. Hotel Helka in Helsinki is committed to reducing inequality, as is the Arctic Lighthouse Hotel located in Hailuoto, adds the statement.
“Yet, while Finland is often seen as an oasis for peace and calm, it does also turn up. The number of gay bars is internationally on the decline in most big cities, but not in Helsinki. Our numbers are going up, and we are in fact getting the largest gay club, DTM, in Finland in the Meatpacking District in Helsinki this summer,” Medina adds.
