Swedish Ombudsman against Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation
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The Swedish Ombudsman against Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation (Ombudsmannen mot diskriminering på grund av sexuell läggning), normally referred to as HomO, is the Swedish office of the ombudsman against discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. HomO is the most recently instituted Swedish ombudsman, in the sense of a government official who addresses the complaints of individual citizens.
HomO has the status of a government agency. In 2005 it received around 8 million SEK in government funding.
The term HomO is used both to refer to the office, currently with a staff of seven, and as the title of its government-appointed acting head, at present HomO Hans Ytterberg. HomO is the officially mandated short form, but is not a true acronym or abbreviation. Instead the word alludes to both homo = homosexual and to traditional Swedish ombudsman abbreviations which do expand into descriptive terms, such as JämO = JämställdhetsOmbudsmannen (Equal Opportunities Ombudsman).
HomO investigates the grievances of individuals and files class action suits on their behalf, for example a recently successful action against a restaurant owner in Stockholm who had harassed a lesbian couple. The HomO office also takes a number of initiatives of its own and submits parliamentary proposals, most recently for a gender neutral marriage act.
[edit] See also
[edit] External link
Official site for HomO (English)
