Swedish Ombudsman against Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation
Encyclopedia
The Swedish Ombudsman against Discrimination on Grounds of Sexual Orientation (Ombudsmannen mot diskriminering på grund av sexuell läggning), normally referred to as HomO, was the Swedish
office of the ombudsman
against discrimination
on grounds of sexual orientation
. On January 1, 2009, it was merged with other ombudsman officers into the new Discrimination Ombudsman.
HomO was the most recently instituted Swedish ombudsman, in the sense of a government official who addresses the complaints of individual citizens. HomO had 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, HomO Hans Ytterberg, who was the only head of the office while in existed. HomO was 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 (Equality Ombudsman
).
HomO investigated 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 couple of lesbians. The HomO office also took a number of initiatives of its own and submitted parliamentary proposals, most recently for a gender neutral marriage
act.
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
office of the ombudsman
Ombudsman
An ombudsman is a person who acts as a trusted intermediary between an organization and some internal or external constituency while representing not only but mostly the broad scope of constituent interests...
against discrimination
Discrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
on grounds of sexual orientation
Sexual orientation
Sexual orientation describes a pattern of emotional, romantic, or sexual attractions to the opposite sex, the same sex, both, or neither, and the genders that accompany them. By the convention of organized researchers, these attractions are subsumed under heterosexuality, homosexuality,...
. On January 1, 2009, it was merged with other ombudsman officers into the new Discrimination Ombudsman.
HomO was the most recently instituted Swedish ombudsman, in the sense of a government official who addresses the complaints of individual citizens. HomO had the status of a government agency
Government agencies in Sweden
The Government agencies in Sweden are state controlled organizations who act independently to carry out the policies of the Swedish Government. The Government Ministries are relatively small and merely policy-making organizations, allowed to control agencies by policy decisions but not by direct...
. In 2005 it received around 8 million SEK
Swedish krona
The krona has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it, but especially in the past, it sometimes preceded the value...
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, HomO Hans Ytterberg, who was the only head of the office while in existed. HomO was the officially mandated short form, but is not a true acronym or abbreviation
Abbreviation
An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase...
. Instead the word alludes to both homo = homosexual and to traditional Swedish ombudsman abbreviations which do expand into descriptive terms, such as JämO = JämställdhetsOmbudsmannen (Equality Ombudsman
Equality Ombudsman
The Equality Ombudsman was a Swedish government agency formed in 1980, that worked with and supervised the laws relating to gender equality...
).
HomO investigated the grievances of individuals and files class action
Class action
In law, a class action, a class suit, or a representative action is a form of lawsuit in which a large group of people collectively bring a claim to court and/or in which a class of defendants is being sued...
suits on their behalf, for example a recently successful action against a restaurant owner in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
who had harassed a couple of lesbians. The HomO office also took a number of initiatives of its own and submitted parliamentary proposals, most recently for a gender neutral marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
act.
See also
- LGBT rights in Sweden
- List of LGBT rights organisations
- Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender RightsSwedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender RightsSwedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights is a Swedish organization working for LGBT rights.It was founded in 1950, which makes it one of the oldest LGBT rights organizations in the world...
, RFSL
External links
- Official site for HomO (English)