The Archiving of the Early Queer Activism in Finland

Nordic Network for Queer History and Activities and The Finnish Labour Archives in collaboration with Friends of Queer History present the webinar:  

The Archiving of the Early Queer Activism in Finland

In this online seminar archivist Iris Olavinen from the Finnish Labour Archives will talk about the archival work: organizing and cataloguing the material of some early queer activists in Finland in the 1970s.

In Finland, the decriminalization of homosexual deeds took place in 1971, but the same year a new act was set: the encouragement for homosexuality was made criminal and homosexuality continued to be categorized as an illness until 1981.

Queer activism and history often reach beyond national borders. International influences, relations, and migration are also present in the materials of early Finnish activists as they were living their personal lives and establishing Seksuaalinen tasavertaisuus Seta (LGBTI Rights in Finland Seta), a new association for queer people – which celebrated its 50th birthday and ongoing work this year.

Olavinen will give a 20-25 min presentation, after which the floor is open for discussion. How can we make queer materials in archives in Nordic countries more easily accessible and available also for international researchers? How to balance the restrictions when it comes to sensitive material of queer collections and the aspiration to make queer history better known to the wider public?

When: September 30, 3:00–4:00 PM Finnish time  (UTC+3)  .

How: Registration here

We’ll send webinar link to the people who have registered (note, the limit is 100 participants!) a day before the webinar.