Norðurlendsk Pride-ráðstevna um vikuskiftið

Norðurlendsku Pride nevndirnar hittust í Havn um vikuskiftið. Elsa Berg, borgarstjóri, var boðin við, tá tiltakið varð sett.

Her er røðan hjá Elsu Berg, borgarstjóra.

- Hello everyone!

It’s a pleasure to be here today at the annual Nordic Pride Conference for the first time in the Faroe Islands.

And to the organizers, I would like to thank you so much for hosting this evening and inviting me to say a few words.

"Diversity is being asked to the party, Inclusion is being asked to dance" is a quote from Verna Myers, an influential leader in diversity, equity and inclusion.

So how do we learn to dance?

It can be difficult, but not impossible, because we have already seen a change. But if we want to fill the dancefloor, we need to address current challenges.

“Diversity” has become a word on peoples minds. We see how corporations strive to include “diversity” in their politics, we see it more and more in schools, we see it being talked about politically and we see how communities encourage it.

We have seen waves of changes, that at one point seemed impossible. For example, in the last few years we have passed laws on discrimination and same-sex marriage and some other basic rights in the Faroe Islands.

But we are not there yet, because in some ways it is still just a word - and sometimes an empty one. We still see people being left out, left behind or met with misunderstanding or even worse.

And we often see it in the small and almost invisible dynamics. It can be a word being said or a bias to what is expected. It can be almost so invisible, that we don’t immediately pay attention to it, but the impact can be distinct and hurtful.

We can do better and we need to keep showing the way and learn the steps.

Because no one should ever be afraid to be themselves. That should be our main goal.

We are all different in many ways, all people are complex and unique and the beauty is, that we all bring different things to the table.

At the moment we see transgender people being used as a distraction from the lack of real political substance. This is simply unacceptable.

In some ways this rhetoric is evident in the Faroe Islands as well, and perhaps this rhetoric migrates between countries faster than we realize.

And in many ways, this reminds me of the rhetoric we have seen previously when there have been fights to change laws to secure basic rights for the lgbtq+ community.

Imagine if we as a people instead encouraged acceptance?

Imagine the party, the dance, we would have?

When we invite diversity, there lies a responsibility to speak up for change and when some things simply aren´t right.

That is what you have paved the way for for decades and what we must continue to do. You are brave and your work is incredibly important.

We as a municipality want to do better. We want to include and engage. We have made it a priority to give people a bigger voice in our decision-making. Specifically, we want to make sure, that people are heard in our hearings and politics and we have made it a priority to encourage inclusion.

We want and strive to be a municipality, where there is room for everyone.

So lets dance! Together.

Thank you so much for having me and I wish you all a good weekend here in the Faroe Islands and in Tórshavn.