Helga Eggebø and Fredrik Langeland, researchers at Nordland Research Institute in Norway, have compiled existing knowledge in the field from the past 25 years. Deepati Forsberg, project coordinator at NIKK, leads the project Living conditions of LGBTI people in rural areas of the Nordic region:

“The aim of the report is to provide an overall picture of the living conditions of LGBTI people across the Nordic region. Most research on LGBTI people’s living conditions today is based on an urban narrative. The report makes it clear that rural areas cannot be described in one single way. The image of rural areas as solely limiting for LGBTI people’s lives needs to change.”

Alongside restrictive norms and a lack of networks and meeting places, there are also experiences of belonging, local engagement and inclusive communities. Local organising and access to queer spaces make a significant difference in terms of openness and inclusion, feelings of belonging and community, and the presence of visible role models in local communities.

“The report does not give us all the answers about what it is like to live as an LGBTI person in rural areas of the Nordic region, but it makes clear that we cannot simply say that life outside the city is bad and life in the city is good. It is also important that more research is conducted in the most peripheral parts of the Nordic region, such as the Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland, where we currently have very little research available,” says Deepati Forsberg at NIKK.