Open Moderates

Open Moderates is the LGBT-organisation of the Moderate Party in Sweden. It was founded in the late 1970s under the name the Gay Moderates. In 2003, the name was changed to the current Open Moderates to signal that the organization is open to everyone regardless of sexual orientation that want to work with LGBT political issues.

The Open Moderates is an organization for everyone that shares the values of the Moderate Party and who believe that LGBT-issues are important political issues to work with from a centre-right perspective.

The Open Moderates work both within the Moderate Party and directly to the public and the LGBT-community. Campaigns, debates, articles, seminars, media activities and participation in various festivals such as Stockholm Pride are all part of the agenda. The aim of the Open Moderates is to influence the policies of the Moderate Party and Moderate politicians all over Sweden in order to ensure an LGBT-agenda based on values of individual freedom and diversity and that the Moderate party and its decision makers are actively engaged in LGBT-issues.

At the moment the Open Moderates have a focus on six political priorities which are continuous modernisation of family law which creates better opportunities for LGBT-people to form families and have children, rights for transgender people, international issues including Swedish immigration policies, anti-discrimination in everyday life such as schools, the labour market, health care, social services and elderly care, the policies concerning HIV and also crimes and violence that stem from honor.

The Open Moderates consist of a national board and of regional organizations of which there are currently 9 in the country.

The origin of the Open Moderates is the Stockholm-based club Gay Moderates that was formed already in the late 1970s. That club had mostly social activities and it was active upon until the mid nineties. A new generation took over and reorganized the Gay Moderates as a new more political network to lobby the Moderate Party.

Over the years the Open Moderates have had an influence on the Moderate Party which has become a very LGBT-friendly party. In 2007 the Open Moderates wrote a motion to the party conference about same sex marriage that was carried with a large majority and became the policy of the party. The party as the leading party in the Swedish government has since then realized that reform so that Sweden has same sex marriage. The Open Moderates have been successful with several other motions that have been carried by the party conferences and became policies of the party.

The national board of the Open Moderate is currently headed by Mr. Fredrik Saweståhl, who also serves a mayor for Tyresö Municipality. Among former board members is the former Swedish minister for migration Mr. Tobias Billström.

See also

• Moderate Party
• List of LGBT-related organisations
• LGBT rights in Sweden

References