"Fully Acceptable" : Policies on Homosexuality in the Swedish Parliament between 1933-2010

Sammanfattning: This study looks at the development in policy towards homosexuals in Sweden from criminalization to constitutional protection. A study on the ideational development in parliament has yet to be conducted. By studying the frames expressed in the official documents between 1933 and 2010 the study analyses ideas in terms of problems and solutions to describe how change occurred. The result is that Swedish policy towards homosexuals has been determined by two frames of understanding: a sexual frame  and an emotional frame. The policy process of the frames developed similarly in terms of institutionalization. Initially both frames saw homosexuals as dangerous which resulted in a different legal status. The frames gradually harmonized with a new scientific understanding that reinterpreted homosexuality as harmless and the different legal status problematic.