This change of policy is a part of a wider social change on two levels – Both a general gradual global change in the social and political position of the sexual minorities, and deeper discoursive change in how sexuality itself is perceived. On the social level, sexual minorities are gaining ground. With homosexuality long since accepted by mainstream politics and mainstream psychology, the turn is coming to groups such as the ones recently accepted as normal by Socialstyrelsen.
On the discoursive level, our society is moving from a religiously based dichotomy between “normal” and “deviant” towards a human rights centered dichotomy between “consensual” and “abusive”. Meanwhile, however, a neonormative discourse is forming where a false dichotomy of “heterosexuality” and “homosexuality” is pretended to be the entire spectrum of human sexuality. While loving healthy homosexual relationships has long been the proof of something being fundamentally wrong with the normative discourse, they are now instead being used as a excuse to uphold a slightly modified version of that same discourse.
References: Nordin (2005), ”Queersverige” Wasniowski (2007),”Den korrekta avvikelsen” Goffman (1963), “Stigma” Foucault (1976), “History of sexuality: The will to knowledge” Stoller (1991), “Pain & Passion”
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