Swedish gays

My home country is Sweden so of course I have to blog about gays in Swedish soaps. In Sweden we are relatively modern and have come quite far with LGBT rights. In Sweden same sex couples can marry, even in church, since 2009, and it is possible for same sex couples to adopt. It is possible for same sex couples to walk hand in hand in the street and make out in public and Pride festivals are being held in 12 different cities. You should think that there is a lot of gay characters in Swedish soap operas as well. I am sorry to make you disapointed.


Rederiet 1992-2002
In 1996 the character of Micki Sandell was introduced in Rederiet. It was told right from the start that he was gay and in episode 107 Micki finally got some snogging!

Micki and Patrik in Rederiet.

That's supposed to be the first gay kiss in swedish television. In 1996! We were quite slow started. The gay kiss between Micki and Patrik was really innocent but it got a lot of attention in media and the Swedish people actually raged about it. They even had a hotline you could call if you were afraid of being mentally damaged after seeing the gay kiss, or "bögkyssen" as it was called in the newspaper Aftonbladet. I was at the time 12 years old and remember that the boys in my school ranted about them almost puking when they saw it, and that was just OK back then. A lot has happened since then, fortunately. 

Patrik turned out to be an unfaithful bastard, and as I recall it, Micki didn't get any more action after that fling. But I was wong. Micki actually had two more boyfriends. Nikolaj, who swung both ways, and Stefan who he actually married. 

Ola Forssmed and Rikard Bergqvist as
Micki Sandell and Stefan Holmberg.

The actor Ola Forssmed didn't only perform the first gay kiss, if I haven't gotten it wrong, he was also part of the first gay wedding in Swedish television. But all of this I can't remember. Either did I stop watching it, or maybe was it to boring to remember. I think it was the first of the two options. I have actually started watching the Micki storyline again, but it doesn't move along so fast because I have other more interesting storylines to watch. But I will see it! If you want to see a Swedish soap opera with a gay storyline you can see it on SVT's open archive.


Skilda världar 1996-2002
Also in the everyday soap Skilda världar there was a gay character. Lukas Strandberg played by Joachim Persson was the boyfriend of the main character Sandra who fell in love with her twin brother, but she didn't know he was her brother of course. Does it sound familiar? Yes, Skilda världar is a remake of the australian soap Sons and Daughters, just as the German Verbotene Liebe.

Joachim Persson as Lukas Strandberg in Skilda världar.

Lukas had a fling with a guy called Sebastian and I remember that the first kiss kind of took us by surprise. At least I did not suspect that Lukas was gay at all. I remember that I rushed home from school just to see the first kiss between Lukas and Sebastian once more in the rerun the day after it was first broadcasted. Yes I was a faghag even back then. But unfortunately I missed the kiss. And the fling between Lukas and Sebastian ended badly, as I recall it and I can't remember Lukas getting any more action before he left the series in 1998. To bad for him. The story of Lukas and Sebastian is really forgotten, and you can't find anything about it on the web. But Skilda världar is released on DVD so it is possible to see.


Andra Avenyn 2007-2010
In the late 90's and early 00's there was a lot of swedish soap operas like Tre Kronor, Nya tider, Vänner och fiender, Vita lögner etc, but as far as I know not a single gay character in any of them. Tre Kronor had a lesbian, but no gays. All of these soap operas took place in the Stockholm area, but in 2007 Göteborg started a new soap opera called Andra Avenyn. By this time soap operas was quite out of fashion in Sweden, but Sveriges Television took the chance and tried it anyway. There were three seasons of Andra Avenyn and 185 episodes. It never became a big success but at least the series had a bisexual character! Kim Dahlberg played by Jonas Bane.

Jonas Bane and Simon Gavik.

At this time I had stopped watching soap operas a long time ago so I never actually saw it. But the storyline between Kim and Adam is to be found on youtube, even with english subtitles. And the storyline between them is actually well worth watching. The couple is really cute and the actors, especially Jonas Bane, is really doing a great job! It is clear that this storyline is taken place in the late 00's, that is the story is not as woody as the ones from the 90's. And I can't remember any rages from the Swedish people in the late 00's. Unfortunately Kims and Adams story didn't end like I wanted it to, when Adam moved to Spain with some older guy and left Kim behind. But it is told that Kim got som more same sex action in the spin off series Riverside, which wasonly showed in the web.


And that was all folks. I can't remember any more gay storylines in Swedish soap operas. Soap operas doesn't really exist in swedish television right now so I guess there will not be any new gay storylines in a Swedish soap opera anytime soon. If it will ever happen again. Soap operas is not that modern in Sweden unfortunately. But maybe it will be some day again. We have a lot of drama series with gay characters but that's not really the same. So for being such a modern country as Sweden after all is, we are really not that good at gay soap characters. I want a new Swedish soap with lot's and lot's of gays. But I guess I will have to write that myself...