SETA
Encyclopedia
SETA founded in 1974, is the main LGBT
rights organisation in Finland
. It is a national organization with several member organizations around the country. Its general secretary is Aija Salo and chairperson Outi Hannula. The current President of Finland, Tarja Halonen
, was the chairwoman of SETA 1980–81.
The Kunniarotta ("Rat of Honor") is an ironic anti-honor awarded to people or organizations that have contributed to discrimination based on sexuality or gender identity, or otherwise made the life of LGBT people more difficult. The Rat has been awarded e.g. to the following:
LGBT
LGBT is an initialism that collectively refers to "lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender" people. In use since the 1990s, the term "LGBT" is an adaptation of the initialism "LGB", which itself started replacing the phrase "gay community" beginning in the mid-to-late 1980s, which many within the...
rights organisation in Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
. It is a national organization with several member organizations around the country. Its general secretary is Aija Salo and chairperson Outi Hannula. The current President of Finland, Tarja Halonen
Tarja Halonen
Tarja Kaarina Halonen is the incumbent President of Finland. The first female to hold the office, Halonen had previously been a member of the parliament from 1979 to 2000 when she resigned after her election to the presidency...
, was the chairwoman of SETA 1980–81.
Awards
SETA awards the annual Asiallisen tiedon omena (the "Apple of Objective Information") to people or organizations that have improved the status of LGBT minorities or distributed objective information about the diversity of sexuality and gender. It has been awarded to the following people or organizations, among others:- 2008 to singer Jenni VartiainenJenni VartiainenJenni Mari Vartiainen is a Finnish pop singer. Before her professional musical endeavours, she was a figure skater in her teen-age years and attended the Kuopio Senior High of Music and Dance...
and songwriter Teemu Brunila for their single "Ihmisten edessäIhmisten edessä (song)"Ihmisten edessä" is a Finnish-language song by Finnish pop singer Jenni Vartiainen. It was released by Warner Music Finland on September 5, 2007, as the second single from her eponymous debut album Ihmisten edessä....
". According to SETA, the piece is an apposite evocation of the courage needed from LGBT people to e.g. publicly hold hands.
The Kunniarotta ("Rat of Honor") is an ironic anti-honor awarded to people or organizations that have contributed to discrimination based on sexuality or gender identity, or otherwise made the life of LGBT people more difficult. The Rat has been awarded e.g. to the following:
- 2003 to Finnish Red CrossFinnish Red CrossThe Finnish Red Cross is a part of International Federation of Red Cross, which is one of the biggest and well-known international organisation in the world and on the field of humanitarian aid. FRC has over 90,000 members and around 45,000 active volunteers in Finland. FRC is divided to 12...
for not accepting donated blood from men that have had sex with another man. According to SETA, this stamps a whole group of people as potential carriers of the HIV virusHIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
, which in SETA's opinion keeps up the discriminatory attitudes.
- 2006 to professor Tuula Tamminen, chairwoman of the Mannerheim League for Child WelfareChild welfareChild protection is used to describe a set of usually government-run services designed to protect children and young people who are underage and to encourage family stability...
, for stating that fatherless children are abnormal and that for this reason infertility treatments should not be given to female couples or single women. According to SETA, Tamminen has abused her recognized position and against the ethics of science ignored the numerous studies stating that it is the stability of family relationships, not the number or genders of the parents, that are crucial for the child's welfare and development.
- 2008 to lord mayor Raimo IlaskiviRaimo IlaskiviRaimo Ilaskivi is a Finnish politician. He holds a doctor's degree of economics from the University of Helsinki and has also studied in the U.S. and in the UK.Ilaskivi is best known as the mayor of Helsinki from 1979 to 1991...
, MP Bjarne KallisBjarne KallisJohan Bjarne Kallis is the former chairman of the Christian Democratic Party , previously known as the Finnish Christian Coalition , and a member of the Parliament of Finland...
, and general Gustav HägglundGustav HägglundJohan Edvin Birger Gustav Hägglund is a retired Finnish general. He was the Chief of Defence 1994—2001, and Chairman of the European Union Military Committee 2001–2004....
for their statements in the fuss caused by the puppet animation The Butterfly from UralThe Butterfly from UralThe Butterfly from Ural or Far Away from Ural is a Finnish 2008 animated short film directed by Katariina Lillqvist.The film tells a story of former President of Finland Carl Gustav Mannerheim – although his name is not mentioned in the film – on a journey to Central Asia where he meets a young...
.