When HRH Mary, Crown Princess of Denmark stepped out as Patron of Copenhagen 2021’s WorldPride event to deliver a speech about LGBTQ+ equality, it seemed like the pinnacle of state-sanctioned Danish liberality. For there was the Australian-born commoner turned fairytale princess, now Queen Consort of Denmark, standing in the rain with pink trousers and a rainbow umbrella declaring that gay rights are human rights. Of course, Denmark’s reputation as a land of acceptance stretches back a lot further than that.
The city’s official tourism site writes that "diversity is in our DNA", and the city has a rich history of LGBT goings-on. The snug, welcoming and camply decked out CentralHjørnet claims to be the world’s oldest gay bar, having flung open its city centre doors in 1917; film fans may recall Tom Hooper’s Oscar-bothering The Danish Girl , which recounts the story of Danish painter Lili Ilse Elvenes, who in 1930 was among the first people in the world to receive sex reassignment surgery. The LGBT+ Danmark organisation has been setting an example since 1948 and is still politically and socially active.
Denmark was even the first country to officially register same-sex unions in 1989, kickstarting a wave that has seen marriage equality spread throughout forward-thinking western nations. Word on the street these days asks why gay venues exist at all, given the widespread integration and celebration of LGBTQ+ people. But there is always a need for community, to hang ou.