Measures to promote LGBTIQ persons rights and opportunities

Structuring the work for LGBTIQ persons equal rights and opportunities

To date, 13 LGBTIQ-strategic government agencies have been appointed to carry out the work, which entails each authority promoting equal rights and opportunities, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, in its activities. Among other measures, authorities must visibly integrate LGBTIQ perspectives into their activities. The 13 public authorities are the Swedish Work Environment Authority, the Ombudsman for Children in Sweden, the Public Health Agency of Sweden, the Living History Forum, the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, the Swedish Migration Agency, the Swedish Agency for Work Environment Expertise, the Family Law and Parenthood Support Authority, the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society, the Swedish Police Authority, the National Board of Health and Welfare, the Swedish Arts Council, and the Swedish National Agency for Education.

Coordination, support and follow-up

In addition to its designation as an LGBTIQ-strategic government agency, the Public Health Agency of Sweden is tasked with supporting, coordinating and following up the efforts of LGBTIQ-strategic government agencies within the scope of the strategy and action plan for equal rights and opportunities for LGBTIQ persons. This means that the Public Health Agency of Sweden will support LGBTIQ-strategic government agencies in their efforts to integrate LGBTIQ perspectives into their organisation’s activities, support coordination between authorities, and compile and analyse the results of the authorities’ work. Part of the task also includes providing support to LGBTIQ-strategic government agencies to develop, or further develop, action plans or the equivalent for each authority involved in LGBTIQ-strategic work. This also involves setting interim objectives for each focus area in consultation with the LBGTIQ-strategic government agencies, based on the Government’s action plan targets and indicators. 

Violence, discrimination and other abuses

The Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention has been tasked with conducting an in-depth study of LGBTIQ-related hate crime. The study aims to increase awareness of and strengthen preventive efforts against LGBTIQ-related hate crime.

The National Centre for Knowledge on Men’s Violence Against Women has received funding to develop educational content and online support regarding violence against LGBTIQ persons, together with the Swedish Gender Equality Agency. The aim is to raise awareness and thereby, expose the violence that LGBTIQ persons are vulnerable to. This awareness also needs to translate into a response that ensures that LGBTIQ persons do not risk being discriminated against when they seek support from society.

The Swedish Gender Equality Agency has been tasked with identifying the necessary awareness-raising initiatives, and how working methods should be developed in order to reach LGBTIQ persons with preventive efforts regarding sexual exploitation. This includes vulnerability to prostitution and sexual exploitation for pornographic purposes, and increasing the detection of persons in vulnerable situations.

The Swedish Gender Equality Agency has been tasked with coordinating a situational report of vulnerability to men’s violence against women, domestic violence and honour-based violence and oppression among children and adults who belong to Sweden’s national minorities. The Agency will promote initiatives to combat violence. There will be a particular emphasis on vulnerability to honour-based violence and oppression and the situation of LGBTIQ persons.

The Living History Forum has been tasked to conduct a study of attitudes towards intolerance in the Swedish population. The task includes investigating attitudes towards, and perceptions of, vulnerable groups in society such as LGBTIQ persons.

The Agency has been tasked with developing knowledge support on LGBTIQ persons equal rights and opportunities for public sector employees. The aim is to create the necessary conditions for improved knowledge of LGBTIQ persons equal rights and opportunities.

The Swedish Defence Research Agency has been tasked with surveying the prevalence of LGBTIQ hostility in digital environments. The task includes surveying and analysing the prevalence of LGBTIQ hostility and how it manifests in different digital environments related to Sweden, including code words, images etc. In particular, the authority will examine the prevalence of hostility towards homosexual, bisexual, transgender, queer and intersex persons. The task includes producing analysis reports and disseminating knowledge gained within the framework of the task. The analytical report was presented in May 2026. The next step is to disseminate the knowledge gleaned within the framework of the assignment.

The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society’s ongoing remit to conduct an in-depth analysis of the need for support measures on honour-based violence and oppression, including young LGBTIQ persons’ vulnerability to conversion practices, has been changed so that the Agency will also build awareness on how criminal law protection against conversion practices through threats or coercion is reinforced by the new penal provision that came into force on 1 July 2026 (Government Bill 2025/26:138).

The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society is tasked with developing and disseminating information activities and knowledge support to prevent young LGBTIQ persons from being exploited for sexual or pornographic purposes and being subjected to sexual violence, mistreatment or abuses, both digitally and physically. 

Uppsala University (National Centre for Knowledge on Men’s Violence Against Women) provides a telephone helpline for transgender and non-binary persons who have been subjected to intimate partner violence and sexual abuse. In order to reach out to young people to a greater extent, a web chat service is being developed as a complement to the helpline.

The Government has tasked the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, the National Board of Health and Welfare, the county administrative boards and the Swedish Agency for Health Technology Assessment and Assessment of Social Services with preparing regional and national support that will enable municipalities and regions to offer exit programmes to individuals who have been subjected to human trafficking for sexual purposes, prostitution or abuse in the production or distribution of pornography. 

The tasked government agencies shall pay particular attention to ensure that exit programmes and other programmes for children can be offered and implemented for persons with special vulnerabilities such as self-harming and addiction, persons with foreign backgrounds, persons with disabilities and LGBTIQ persons. 

The national strategy against violent extremism and terrorism (Govt Communication 2023/24:56) sets out the strategic approach for the Government’s continued work against hate crime, including homophobic and transphobic hate crime. It states that the Swedish Police Authority needs to continue developing its efforts to investigate and prosecute people for hate crime and other crimes that threaten democracy, and that the Swedish Police Authority and other agencies need to develop their efforts to counteract IT-related hate crime and other crimes that threaten democracy. The Swedish Police Authority must also maintain an ongoing dialogue and cooperation with communities who feel they have been subjected to hate crime.

At the same time as the strategy was adopted, a task was also decided for the Swedish Police Authority, the Swedish Security Service, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention to incorporate the strategy into the authorities’ activities and ensure that their work aligns with the strategy. 

The Government’s Strategy stated its intent to present a comprehensive report to the Riksdag on how government agencies’ various activities and remits contribute to the strategy’s objectives. This report has now been presented to the Riksdag.

The Swedish Prosecution Authority has specially appointed prosecutors who handle hate crime cases. The Authority also has a specially appointed expert on hate crime who works to raise the level of awareness among relevant prosecutors. This is done by regularly updating legal guidelines in this area (most recently in June 2026), and by creating conditions for the exchange of information and experience between these prosecutors, e.g. through networks and annual conferences.

Every two years, the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention publishes a report with statistics on police reports with hate crime motives. The statistics are based on reports that the police have labelled as hate crime and where the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention has identified a hate crime motive. The statistics expose the proportion and nature of LGBTIQ-related hate crime.

On 1 July 2026, a special penal provision for psychological violence was introduced. It targets repeated violations in the form of accusations, derogatory statements, humiliating conduct, improper threats, improper coercion or improper surveillance. Collectively, these forms of violation need to show intent to severely damage the subjected person’s self-esteem. This new offence is considered to entail a reinforced criminal law protection against conversion attempts.

In March 2024, the Government adopted the Bill En tydligare bestämmelse om hets mot folkgrupp (‘A clearer provision on agitation against a population group’). The Bill proposes, among other things, that the provisions on agitation against a population group in the Freedom of the Press Act and the Criminal Code should be clarified, and that their scope of application should be expanded to some extent (Government Bill 2023/24:93). One of the proposals is that individuals can be given the status of an injured party with the right to damages.

Legislative amendments to the Swedish Criminal Code entered into force on 1 July 2024. It is proposed that corresponding legislative amendments should enter into force on 1 January 2027 in the Freedom of the Press Act.

In 2025, the Swedish Migration Agency received appropriation directions to increase uniformity and legal quality in the examination of cases. The remit included instructions for the Agency to specifically review issues of uniformity and rule of law in LGBTIQ-related conversion cases. As a result, the Agency has taken measures and developed an action plan to improve the quality of processing of LGBTIQ cases in asylum examinations.

The Swedish Migration Agency has been tasked with resettling 900 people to Sweden in 2026. The selection should be based on criteria that provide a well-founded prognosis for good integration into Swedish society. Women, girls and vulnerable groups such as LGBTIQ persons will be prioritised. A similar assignment was also requested in the appropriation directions for 2025.

Health, health care and social services

In 2020, the Public Health Agency of Sweden presented a national strategy for sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) on behalf of the Government. The strategy was complemented by an action plan in 2023. The strategy and action plan highlight LGBTIQ persons as a target group that needs to be prioritised in the national SRHR work, considering this group generally having less favourable conditions for good sexual and reproductive health than the rest of the population. In October 2024, the Public Health Agency of Sweden was instructed to strengthen and promote SRHR rights – together with the National Board of Health and Welfare, the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, the Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society, the Swedish Migration Agency, the Swedish Agency for Participation, the National Board of Institutional Care and the Swedish National Board Council for Crime Prevention – based on the SRHR strategy and action plan.

The National Board of Health and Welfare annually distributes government grants in accordance with the Ordinance on government grants to municipalities and regions for measures to promote equal rights and equal opportunities regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

In January 2025, the Government adopted a national strategy within the area of mental health and suicide prevention for the coming ten years (Govt. Communication 2024/25:77). The strategy is based on a broad and cross-sectoral approach that provides an aligned approach for society as a whole in its efforts to promote mental well-being, prevent mental illness [NU1] [HL2] and suicide, and to improve the lives of people with various psychiatric conditions. Several goals, interim objectives and prioritised measures in the strategy have a bearing on LGBTIQ persons health, rights and opportunities. To support the strategy’s implementation, the Government has also presented an action plan for the period 2025–2026[AG3] [HL4]  and instructed 28 authorities to support it. Moreover, in 2025, SEK 1.6 billion is being distributed through an agreement between the State and the Swedish Association of Local Authorities to support its implementation in municipalities and regions. 

In February 2025, the National Board of Health and Welfare was instructed to work with long-term initiatives to enhance and develop maternity care, birth care and health and medical care for women and girls. The task also includes care for people who have been subjected to sexual violence. The Board will also highlight differences in people’s propensity to seek care when they need it and the situation for particularly vulnerable groups. According to the Public Health Agency of Sweden, these groups may include people with socio-economic difficulties, people with experience of migration, persons with disabilities, elderly people, LGBTIQ persons, young people and young adults. These groups in particular need support in efforts to ensure equal sexual and reproductive health and rights. 

On 1 July 2025, a new Act concerning recognition of gender in certain cases entered into force. The National Board of Health and Welfare has been instructed to conduct preparatory measures ahead of introducing a new Act concerning recognition of gender in certain cases. As a part of the task, among other things, the Board has prepared the development of ordinances outlining the requirements for an application for gender recognition. They have also developed a knowledge support for professionals issuing certificates for individuals applying for gender recognition. Moreover, the Board will implement appropriate information activities in accordance with the new legislation. The parts of this task related to knowledge support and solutions that enable efficient and secure procedures for application and identity verification were reported on 1 July 2025. The information activities will be presented on 1 December 2025. 

Working life

The Swedish Work Environment Authority are now designated LGBTIQ-strategic government agencies and are instructed to promote LGBTIQ persons equal rights and opportunities in their respective organisation’s activities. [LM5] This means that an LGBTIQ perspective must be integrated and made visible in the authority’s activities.

Young LGBTIQ persons

The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society has been tasked to continue strengthening conditions for creating and sustaining physical and digital meeting places for young LGBTIQ persons. This will be done through skills development in the form of awareness-raising initiatives about LGBTIQ persons’ equal rights and opportunities, targeting decision makers, managers and strategists responsible for recreational activities, along with recreational leaders and other staff. In its implementation, the Agency will focus on the geographical distribution of meeting places, especially in rural communities and areas with socio-economic challenges (according to the boundaries reported by SCB).

The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society distributes annual government grants in accordance with the Ordinance on government grants to initiatives that promote meeting places for young LGBTIQ persons.

In July 2026, the National Board of Health and Welfare was tasked with developing a national foundation programme for young people’s clinics to strengthen and develop the clinics’ work with young people’s physical and psychological health and sexual and reproductive health and rights. At present, the clinics’ activities and initiatives are not reaching certain groups sufficiently, including young LGBTIQ persons. The foundation programme’s aim is to provide municipalities and regions with clear support on how to formalise and develop clinics’ activities and initiatives, and create the conditions for equitable and equal access to young people’s clinics throughout the country.

Older LGBTIQ persons

The Government has extended and developed the Elderly care initiative, which provides new and existing staff with training opportunities. The Government has emphasised the opportunities that the Elderly care initiative provides for staff skills development in especially important areas of their organisation, as for example, one of these areas is the special needs of older LGBTIQ persons.

Private and family life

In 2022, the proposal referred to the Council on Legislation for consideration on Förbättrade möjligheter att ändra kön (‘Improved opportunities to change gender’) was decided. In 2023, the government parties chose not to proceed with the proposals referred to the Council on Legislation for consideration, as the parties had disparate approaches to them. The parties agreed that each party would act according to their own positions in the Riksdag. The Parliamentary Committee on Health and Welfare subsequently submitted legislative proposals to the Riksdag. It approved the Committee’s proposal for a new Act on certain surgical procedures on sexual organs and a new Act concerning recognition of gender in certain cases, along with a legislative proposal to remove the existing Act concerning gender recognition. The legislative proposals entered into force on 1 July 2025.

See above information on the National Board of Health and Welfare’s mandate to prepare for the introduction of a new Act concerning gender recognition in certain cases. 

Civil society

The Swedish Agency for Youth and Civil Society annually distributes government grants in accordance with the Ordinance on government grants to organisations for homosexuals, bisexuals, transsexuals or persons with a transgender identity or expression.

Cultural sector

The Swedish Arts Grants Committee has been tasked to provide information on artists’ exposure to threats, violence and harassment in relation to their professional practice.