Fun Fast Facts
- Same-sex activity legalised in 1992.
- Age of consent 14 years.
- Not banned from military service.
LGBT organisation: Sexual Minorities Protection Union (SEKU)
- An NGO which deals with the legal rights of the LGBT community.
- Lobbies government agencies and meets with ministry staff to inform them of the problems and shortcomings of the LGBT community.
- SEKÜ’s goal is to make the Estonian society a tolerant and an inclusive society for as many people as possible.
W3JOY interviewed: Miriam Kunnberg
I was growing up in a bit of bubble, there was not information about gay people.
[On coming out:] How amazing it is, how beautiful life is, how good the sex is!
We are looking at laws. We would have Visa problems. We wouldn’t be able to apply for a partnership visa.
The way you treat society, society will treat you.
If you think about it, it’s a relatively new country, and we’ve done well.
Estonia is a really, really nice place to be and I hope things will change.
W3JOY interviewed: Reimo Mets, an advocate and lawyer for the Estonian LGBT rights organisation Sexual Minorities Protection Union (SEKU)
We don’t have any other laws in the Constitutions, therefore we have a lot of work to do.
The Estonia constitution is one of the most liberal in the world…any discrimination in any part is forbidden.
The local ombudsman and the European Court have said that same-sex families are protected by European Human Rights Convention as well as the Estonia Constitution.
The LGBT community in Estonia, we don’t have problems in everyday life…Estonia is a safe country in that sense.
But we struggle to get the same recognition.
Even if you are going to visit your partner in the hospital, you are not married, so the hospital can say, ‘You are not welcome here’.
We are the highest percent of non-religious people in the world [7%]…it should be easy to change the people’s minds because the church is not involved. So it should be easy to change the people’s mind about being hostile to LGBT people.
What I don’t like in Estonia is that the politicians don’t speak up for LGBT rights.
Published on: Jul 14, 2013 at 21:18
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 38:00 — 34.8MB)