The registered-partnership law did not give same-sex couples all of the rights enjoyed by opposite-sex spouses. It allowed one partner to adopt the other's children, and in 2000 the law was revised to permit the adoption of the partner's stepchildren. However, it is still not permissible for same-sex couples to adopt other children. This issue remains an important one for the Icelandic glbtq rights movement.

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It is also of concern that while glbtq people in Reykjavik are able to live open lives and enjoy social opportunities, those in smaller towns often have a much more difficult existence.

Bergsson's The Perfect Equal

The difficulties that Icelandic glbtq people still feel in their quest for assimilation into their society are reflected in The Perfect Equal by Felix Bergsson, an actor as well as a playwright. He is one of the most popular children's entertainers in Iceland and does voice-overs for Disney films.

The Perfect Equal, which incorporates the poetry of Walt Whitman, tells the stories of five gay Icelandic men of varied ages and social circumstances who choose different strategies in life, including living openly, remaining closeted, and emigrating. The play has been translated into English and was performed in London in 2000 with Bergsson playing all five lead roles.

Iceland Today

Iceland is not a populous country. It has only about 280,000 inhabitants, approximately three fifths of whom live in Reykjavik. The capital is the only city with a real gay scene.

The Samtökin '78 Community Center provides social support for glbtq people and also has a café and library on the premises (the latter discreetly lending pornographic material--the sale of which is illegal in Iceland--from its "backroom" collection). Several clubs and bars are gay-friendly and draw a mixed but primarily gay male clientele. The MSC leather bar is the only public space exclusively for men.

Glbtq Icelanders have gone from being virtually invisible before 1978 to winning important political gains in the 1990s. Legal reform has in some cases been ahead of public opinion: the smaller and more remote communities are still not particularly comfortable places for glbtq people, and the official state church does not sanction same-sex marriage. Nevertheless, glbtq Icelanders have made significant progress in a relatively short period of time.

Denmark has a reputation for sexual liberation, tolerance, and progressive social policy in regards to glbtq issues.

Like other Nordic countries, Finland is liberal in regards to gay rights, though it has been slower than its neighbors to assure glbtq equality.

Those countries that allow the immigration of glbtq persons based on persecution in their home countries often raise difficulties or apply the existing laws inequitably, especially in the case of glbtq couples who apply for entry as domestic partners.

Like most Scandinavian countries, Norway respects glbtq rights, and Norwegians are broadly tolerant of homosexuals.

Lesbian and gay couples have been fighting for the freedom to marry since the dawn of the modern glbtq struggle for equality; despite some success abroad, progress toward same-sex marriage in the United States has been slow.

Switzerland is a very cosmopolitan nation with a vibrant glbtq community, but it has lagged behind much of Europe, particularly the Nordic countries, when it comes to assuring equal rights.

Celebrating an ideal of manly love in both its spiritual and physical aspects, Walt Whitman has exerted a profound and enduring influence on gay literature.