Umeå Municipality, together with the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education (RFSU), is inviting young people from the municipality to a youth festival, but boys are not welcome as the event is only intended for girls and so-called “non-binary” individuals. In 2018, a similar initiative called “Statement Festival” was condemned by the Equality Ombudsman for the same reason—men were not permitted to attend.

Previous ‘Men-Free’ Festival Condemned by Equality Ombudsman

During the summer of 2018, the Statement Festival was held in Gothenburg, an initiative by Emma Knyckare and others who wanted to create a festival where “people could feel safe regardless of gender identity.” To achieve this, they created a festival for only women, trans men, and non-binary people, both on stage and in the audience. Men were therefore not welcome.

The fact that men were excluded sparked extensive debate among the public, with many considering it to be discriminatory. As a result, several individuals reported the festival to the Equality Ombudsman (DO), the authority tasked with ensuring that societal actors comply with anti-discrimination laws, which later condemned the festival for this very reason.

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However, since no man had actually attempted to enter the festival, the Ombudsman considered that no one had been personally discriminated against, and therefore no punishment was handed down.

Umeå Municipality’s Own Initiative for Girls and Non-Binary Individuals

On May 9 this year, nearly 7 years after the Statement Festival, Umeå Municipality has decided to hold a youth festival called “Unify Festival” for 12- to 16-year-old girls and non-binary individuals—where boys are not welcome. This comes even though the Equality Ombudsman previously condemned a similar festival on the grounds that men (in this case, boys) were excluded.

The festival is organized by Umeå Municipality in collaboration with RFSU (the Swedish Association for Sexuality Education).

This Is How Umeå Municipality Responds

Samnytt contacted Umeå Municipality to hear their position on the possibility that the festival could violate the law and why boys are not allowed to attend.

– We have an overwhelming majority of boys who visit our activities. This is a way to reach the girls a bit more closely, give them space to help plan activities, and provide room for their own festival, says Matilda Tapani, Head of Operations for Recreation and Youth at Umeå Municipality, to Samnytt.

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Regarding whether girls are more likely to attend if boys are not present, Tapani responds, “It could be a way to get them to come and visit us.”

As for whether the condemnation of the men-free Statement Festival by the Equality Ombudsman might affect the municipality’s own initiative, we received the following answer.

– I do not dare answer that because I am not that familiar with that particular festival. But I think that this is just a part of a very large operation we have, where we also offer a very wide range of other types of activities, events, and arrangements.

Finally, we asked whether the municipality is concerned that this could make boys feel discriminated against.

– I think it is important that we work with the boys as well, in the same way that we need to work with girls and non-binary individuals, Tapani concludes.

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