The Centrifugal Force

Neoliberalism and Nationality in Iceland’s Same-Sex Marriage Debate 1996–2010

Abstract

This article analyses the Icelandic same-sex marriage debate which took place in 1996-2010. The debate pitted the Icelandic National Church against the queer community, with the former fighting against marriage equality while the latter supported it. The debate ended when a non-gendered marriage law was passed in 2010 under the government of Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir, the world’s first openly homosexual head of government. In Icelandic public discourse, this story has tended to be framed as a victory of progress over reaction and an indication of Iceland’s extraordinary acceptance of queer people.

This article uses the methods of genealogy, the history of sexuality, and queer history to question this received narrative. Through the identification and investigation of five recurring discursive tropes in the same-sex marriage debate, the article argues that the debate essentially revolved around the issue of neoliberalism and nationality. The National Church saw marriage equality as a neoliberal corruption of traditional marriage, leading Iceland’s neoliberal governments of the 2000s to turn against it. By highlighting the special position of the National Church as part of a special Nordic “fusion” of church, state, and nation, the article analyses the changes in the national imaginary bound up with the movement of some queer people towards the national center through same-sex marriage and the concurrent demotion of the National Church towards the margins of the nation.