Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 17:30:17 +0100 (MET) From: skolander@bahnhof.se (Bjoern Skolander) Subject: SWEDEN: LESBIAN CELEBRITY MARRIAGE - UPDATE SWEDEN: LESBIAN CELEBRITY MARRIAGE - UPDATE - It is wonderful to be married, said rockstar Eva Dahlgren (35) when she left the marriage party late this night accompanied by her wife singer Efva Attling (43). At 4 pm, January 25, the couple said yes to each other in a plain fisherman's cabin on the island Tynningsoe in the Stockholm archipelago. Only a few close friends were present at the Registered Partnership ceremony. Later the marriage was celebrated in the house of the lesbian couple author Louise Boije af Gennaes and journalist Mian Lodalen. Among the guests were another of Sweden's rockstars, the female Roxette-singer Marie Fredriksson accompanied by her husband Micke Bolyos. Present was also out actor and singer Rikard Wolff, who has meant a lot for the visibility of gays in Sweden during the last few years. After having spent the night dancing to the tunes of Los Lobos, Simple Red and Lenny Krawitz, Dahlgren and Attling left the party for a suite at Grand Hotel in central Stockholm. The couple will celebrate their honeymoon in Thailand. The event has got much media attention. Today the two major tabloids (Aftonbladet and Expressen) devote the frontpage and several more pages to the marriage. Aftonbladet has contacted 20 Swedish celebrities for their reaction to the couples decision to make their love public, like Army of Lover's Dominika Peczynski and Camilla Henemark, Andreas Carlgren (out gay politician), Staffan Hildebrand (out bisexual filmmaker), and singer Dr. Alban. The general reaction is that Dahlgren and Attling has taken a very courageous decision. An opinion which is seconded by RFSL-chairman Haakan Andersson. - They are making lesbian love visible. This event is a milestone in the Swedish gay and lesbian history, Andersson says to Aftonbladet. RFSL's vice-chairman Cecilia Berggren was more restricted in her joy when she yesterday night on the TV show Black and White commented on the marriage. - I am really happy on their behalf. And I believe their marriage will be an important manifistation, especially for young gays and lesbians. Personally, I will not register my partnership, as the present law is discriminating against homosexuals. When I am going to marry, I want a marriage which is equal to heterosexual marriage in all areas. Berggren is referring to the fact that the present Registered Partnership Law is not giving same-sex couples the right to adoption and insemination. A fact that probably is more significant to lesbians than to gay men. Berggrens's statement could also be regarded as the direction for RFSL's future political work. Report by Bjoern Skolander Sources: Aftonbladet and Expressen, January 26, 1996.