Constructing Queer History in Finnish Memory Activism

Abstract

This essay addresses the construction of queer memory and queer history in Finnish memory activism in the late 2010s and early 2020s. It describes how the work on making queer pasts visible has started and addresses the organizations and activists behind this work as well as the funding and institutional support the work has received. The essay discusses the terms used in this activism, focusing in particular on sateenkaari, rainbow, a local umbrella term for LGBTIQ+ and the effects of the terminological choice between history and memory.