Claes Gylling

"Enlightenment is the best medicine"

- Loneliness among the elderly is a health problem, not least among LGBTQ people. In 2019, we started our senior activities. We have a senior café every Sunday. We’ve arranged movie nights and outings. We have done everything possible to get people to meet, and we’re quite proud of what we have achieved.

- I think loneliness among LGBTQ people is more widespread than among the general population. It’s more difficult to get in touch, there are not many meeting places in town. I think it can be difficult for an older gay man or lesbian to connect with people at the pub. Our activities have been important to many of them.

- During autumn, we carried out a film and radio project with the collective name "Were you queer already then?". The purpose was to show that we exist. Many do not know our history, and this probably also applies to many younger LGBTQ people. We want to be cross-generational. We can tell what it was like to come out in the 70's and they can tell us how they see the world today.

- In the 70s and 80s, there were aggressive groups of thugs, neo-Nazis and others, who would attack us. “Knock the gay” ("Knacka bög") was even an expression at the time, but it has disappeared from Malmö completely. People's prejudices have probably disappeared to a large extent and I believe that politicians and the government have helped through their decisions and policies. LGBTQ has become a lifestyle that is accepted by more and more people, and it has become politically incorrect to be against it. But sure, sometimes it feels like the tolerance is just a thin layer on the surface and that it’s a bit forced. Within RFSL, we usually say that we will close down our business on the day we achieve full equality, but I don’t dare to really believe we will achieve that.

- I joined RFSL in the mid 70's. For me, it was as important as joining a union. In 1982, we as a group started talking about producing radio shows and in September we had our first regular broadcast. It was quite improvised and technologically simple, but there was a great amount of response and over time we had a big impact. I think our radio show played an important role for the gay community in the city.

- My greatest wish for the future is that inclusion continues and that even the conservative and religious forces realize that we are living in the 2020s and that writings from hundreds of years ago are no longer fully relevant. I think that’s where the greatest resistance lies, there and within the far right. I believe that enlightenment is the best medicine against all forms of prejudice. And that's what we're working for in all our efforts.