On Monday, the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia, rainbow flags were raised outside of Höfði, city hall, and offices in Borgartún. The City of Reykjavík’s Human Rights Award was presented at Höfði on the same day.
Remembering past protest
Visír mentions that the event reminded many Icelanders of the former Vice President, Mike Pence, visit to Iceland in 2019 where crowds attempted to celebrate diversity and display their support for LGBTQ+ rights. This was in protest to Pence’s previous support for anti-LGBTQ+ policies that were expressed throughout his political career.
A unique coincidence
The raising of the flags came at an interesting time as the US Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, just arrived in Iceland this week for the Arctic Council meeting. However, Bjarni Brynjólfsson, the city’s information officer assured Vísir that the hoisting of the pride flags on Monday was not intentionally raised upon the Secretary of State´s arrival in Iceland.
Note: Due to the effect the Coronavirus is having on tourism in Iceland, it’s become increasingly difficult for the Grapevine to survive. If you enjoy our content and want to help the Grapevine’s journalists do things like eat and pay rent, please consider joining our High Five Club.
You can also check out our shop, loaded with books, apparel and other cool merch, that you can buy and have delivered right to your door.
Also you can get regular news from Iceland—including the latest notifications on eruptions, as soon as they happen—by signing up to our newsletter.
Buy subscriptions, t-shirts and more from our shop right here!
