Comment: Swedish Eurovision star shouldn’t get nul points for his comments about gays
Ronny Larsson, the editor of Swedish LGBT magazine QX, writes for PinkNews to defend Eurovision entrant Måns Zelmerlöw, who claimed gay sex was ‘not natural’.
This weekend Måns Zelmerlöw became Sweden’s representative for the 2015 Eurovision Song Contest with his song Heroes.
As soon as he won the Swedish pre-selection I knew that his appearance in the Swedish cooking show, Pluras kök, would become a hot topic among gay Eurovision fans.
There, he and Swedish popstar Miriam Bryant discussed homosexuality over some drinks.
Måns first agreed when Miriam Bryant asked him if he thought that homosexuality deviates from the norm (“but there is nothing wrong with it at all. “) And then he claimed that it is not as “natural” when a man and a man or a woman and a woman have sex (“as it does not ensure that we are propagated “.)
Based on this you might think that Måns is a bigot, homophobe or just plain stupid.
Well, nothing could be more wrong. Måns is totally on our side and has always been.
As an editor at Sweden’s biggest LGBT magazine, QX, I have met Måns since his debut on Swedish Idol 2005.
He has always taken the time to do stuff for our magazine and been on our cover four times, he has performed at Stockholm Pride and at our own award show QX Gaygala.
Last year he also successfully hosted the QX Gala, Sweden’s biggest gay party of the year.
Of course this doesn’t automatically make Måns Zelmerlöw an ally. But it sure as hell shows that he wants to be a friend of the gay community.
This last year we talked many times about what he said on Pluras kök. He told me that he never ever put any judgement in the use of the word aberration, he used it with the meaning “less common”.
He however immediately understood that the word has a very negative connotation and that he should have avoided it.
But it was the word “natural”, used in this context, that was the absolutely most stupid to use. He agrees that he crossed the line in many ways.
He said: “I really want to point out that homosexuality is absolutely as natural as heterosexuality.
“Sex between men, and sex between women, is just as natural as sex between a woman and a man.”
He was even more saddened to discover that some Swedish Nazi movements tried to twist the narrative to make it seem that Måns was on their side.
He said: “The absolute worst thing was when the conservative voices spoke up and thought that I was on their side: ‘Oh, finally someone who tells it like it is’.
“I will never ever be on their side … I totally disassociate myself from their way of thinking and ideas about what is normal and natural.
“And by the way, who the hell wants to be normal? I do not see myself as normal and I really like differences and people who stand up for who they are.”
Måns is one of the most sincere, loving and friendly celebrities I have ever met and I know how much he regrets his comments.
He loves his gay fans, his gay friends and is totally on our side. And believe me, he does not want to silence this, or bury it under the carpet, he just wants the gay community to understand that he is so sorry for the words he used.
Måns Zelmerlöw is a true ally and I am sure that he will do everything both before Vienna and during the weeks there to show that he is on our side and is totally supporting of all forms of love. Måns Zelmerlöw is no homphobe.
As with all comment, this does not necessarily reflect the views of PinkNews.
