Pride around the corner

This week Stockholm’s own Pride-festival starts, and that is always a lot of fun. The festival is highlighted in the newspaper I am now editor in chief for, and a lot of our articles this week have LesBiGay-themes. The wonderful picture (←) is the one we use on the cover, and you can read my editorial here [in Swedish].

(In short, my editorial starts by referring to the book “What is the matter with Kansas” by Thomas Frank, and my point is to show how the Republican Party use moral issues to gain votes among the white working class. Then I point out that political debates with moral underpinnings are spreading to Europe; the recent discussion about stem cell research among the EU:s Ministers of Education and Research is one example.

Then I discuss if these issues and the Republican political strategy will end up in Swedish politics, and I point out that the leader of the Swedish Christian Democratic party recently compared homosexual couples to incestuous relations within a family.

I conclude by arguing that when the right confronts the left with moral argument we should be inspired by Spain’s Zapatero: we should not back down, we should stand up for our values and proudly say that everyone should be treated the same way, whoever you happen to fall in love with.)

I will moderate six short seminars in the Pride Park in Tantolunden on Thursday and Friday, and I am sure it will be both fun and interesting. You can read more about social democratic activities during the week here, and information about the whole program and the parade on Saturday can be found here.

Be proud and have fun, y'all.