A brand new LGBTQAI+ festival, Hinseginhátið Vesturlands, is taking place in Borgarnes, in the western part of Iceland, starting yesterday and continuing until tomorrow. GayIceland reached out to the organizers of the festival, Hinsegin Vesturland, or Queer West, to find out more about this new organization for LGBTQAI+ people in the west of the country.
“After I moved to Borgarnes, I felt that there was a need for more visibility of gay people in the community. This idea then got bigger and became an organization for the whole western part of the country. We drew inspiration from similar organizations in the North and East, Queer North and Queer East,” explains chairwoman Guðrún St. Guðbrandsdóttir, when asked prompted her to start Queer West, or Hinsegin Vesturland.
“Our goal is more making the West region’s queer community more visible and bringing them together.”
But what does the organization do? “Queer West is for everyone,” she replies, referring to the LGBTQ+ community in the West, “for us to be more visible, to educate, get educated, support each other and have fun together.”
Often in areas outside of major cities, queer people can feel isolated and without much representation, unable to connect people like themselves. Ingvar Breiðfjörð Skúlason, is also involved in the organization and says that, whilst national queer organizations do a great job, more visibility is needed in smaller towns and cities.
“The National Queer Association of Iceland (Samtökin ’78) does great work fighting for rights of the queer community in Iceland and supports the global community also. Our goal is more making the West region’s queer community more visible and bringing them together.”
He says that being a queer individual in smaller towns or in the country side of a country like Iceland can feel lonely. “Especially for the younger members who are still fighting with identifying themselves and trying to accept themselves. It can feel like no one is like them and that they are alone. We want to be visible for them and show them that they are not alone and we are here for them.”
Ingvar goes on to mention that the LGBTQAI+ community in Iceland has been “very supportive” of the new organization.
“We have had Samtökin ’78 offering us assistance and support from their infrastructure like with merchandise and if we have any problems we are welcome to seek knowledge from them. This comes without asking and shows how tight the community sticks together.”
“Our goal is more making the West region’s queer community more visible and bringing them together.”
The reaction from the local community in general has also been very positive towards Queer West, with the community taking a real interest in the events that the organization is putting on, like the West Pride parade, and following the group’s social media channels.
Guðrún St. Guðbrandsdóttir says the organization has also received support from town councils in the West. “We have felt a great deal of goodwill and positivity from municipalities in the west and we have received some financial support from Borgarbyggð and The Icelandic Association of Local Authorities for the pride parade.”
When asked about where she would like to see the organization in the next few years she says she would like to see it: “being active in education, support and events so that they queer community can be visible and active in the West.”
It certainly seems that Queer West, or Hinsegin Vesturland, are off to a flying start and have great support within their own community. Hinsegin Vesturland are on Facebook and Instagram @hinseginvest and can also be contacted via email at hinseginvest@gmail.com