Stockholm: Scandinavia's LGBT Capital

While the United States prepares to celebrate the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell," it's telling to remember that more than thirty years ago, back in 1976, Sweden integrated its entire military, enabling gays to serve without being closeted. 1976 - a lifetime ago! And furthermore, in 1979, Sweden was the first country in the world to declassify homosexuality as a medical disorder, which followed Sweden's legalization of same-sex sex - way back in 1944. Think about it: you and your parents could've lived your life in Sweden as first-class LGBT citizens.

With a history of acceptance, openness, and diversity, it's no surprise that Stockholm, Sweden's capital, is widely considered the LGBT capital of Scandinavia. There has been same-sex marriage in Sweden since 2009 - and each summer, Stockholm Pride (one of Europe's more popular Prides since its debut in 1998) becomes a citywide celebration.

As Sweden's largest city, with more than twenty percent of Sweden's nine million citizens living within the fourteen-island archipelago that comprises what is often referred to as the "Venice of the North," Stockholm is as stunning as it is socially progressive. While many of Stockholm's tourists arrive in the summer, when the days stretch long into the white nights, those who visit Stockholm in the winter are rewarded with a setting as romantic as Zhivago's winter palace. Under a blanket of freshly-fallen snow, with ice floes on the river, and mounds of meringue atop the statuary, Stockholm is as gorgeous as a gay wedding cake.

One of Europe’s Most Beautiful Medieval Town Centers

The city dates from 1252, but many visitors might know Stockholm best from Stieg Larsson's "Millennium Trilogy" and the travails of Larsson's protagonist, Lisbeth Salander. More than even Pippi Longstocking, the erstwhile heroine of Sweden, Salander has captured the imagination of global travelers and Stockholmers alike - and to walk in the footsteps of Larsson's characters is nearly an act of literary transference.

Gamla Stan (also known as Old Town) contains one of Europe's most beautifully preserved medieval town centers - and in the winter, the snow-covered narrow streets become a catwalk for some of Stockholm's more stylish citizenry. Long celebrated for their beauty, Stockholmers are a walking testament to their country's love of cool and chic fashion. Lest you've momentarily forgotten, this little country has clothed the planet with H&M's fashion-forward designs, while filling the world's homes with merch from Ikea, the world's largest furniture retailer.

With more than one hundred museums and over a thousand restaurants, Stockholm is one of Europe's more cultured destinations - and, therefore, perfect for LGBT travelers. Furthermore, Stockholm is green - and environmentally-savvy. Thirty percent of the city is waterways traversed by ferries, boats, and ships, with another thirty percent given over to parks and green spaces, resulting in a city that rewards every camera-bearing visitor with breathtaking vistas.

As Alluring to LGBT People as Shangri-La

Invariably, Stockholm appears on those ubiquitous "Most Livable Cities" indices, and in 2009, Stockholm became the first city to be granted the title of European Green Capital. Situated at the mouth of Lake Malaren, Stockholm has an abundance of clean water (which is perhaps connected to the absence of heavy industry within the city proper) and a plethora of fountains.

All these attributes, combined with the country's strong sense of secularism (rather than an overreliance on religion), make Stockholm as alluring to LGBT people as Shangri-La - and it's small wonder that a record number of entrants participated in VisitSweden's recent "Love Is In The Air" promotion. Three LGBT couples won the right to be married in Sweden - two in the air, 38,000 feet above Sweden, and one couple at the IceHotel, nearly 100 miles above the Arctic Circle - and it wouldn't be at all surprising to hear that all three couples moved to Stockholm to live happily ever after.

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(Continued on next page: What to Do in Stockholm..)

WHAT TO DO

Fotografiska:

Housed along the docks of Stadsgarden in an historic Art Nouveau building from 1906, the brand-new Fotografiska is Stockholm's latest museum and one of the world's largest homes for contemporary photography, encompassing nearly 60,000 square feet of exhibition space. The stunning second floor bar and restaurant (soon to open in February 2011 with a more comprehensive menu) currently serves mouth-watering Swedish fare, such as salads, sandwiches, and pastries - but it's the killer view of Stockholm that might keep you lingering long after a second or third cup of coffee. No matter how restorative you find the view, don't miss the current exhibition titled Fashion!, a retrospective of some of fashion photography's most iconic images from pioneers such as Steichen and Horst to the iconoclastic works of Helmut Newton, Peter Lindbergh, Steven Meisel, Irving Penn, and scores of other photographic geniuses. And speaking of genius, Fotografiska is the first museum to exhibit Christopher Makos's Lady Warhol, the startling and inspired collaboration between Makos and Andy Warhol. Two days and eight wigs later - and Andy was a new woman, and Makos has fifty brilliant photographic portraits to prove it.

LINK: Fotografiska

Millesgarden:

More than a hundred years ago, newlyweds Carl and Olga Milles purchased property on the cliff of Herserud, high above lake V�rtan on the island of Liding� in Stockholm, with the intent of incorporating their artists' studios into their home. Designed by architect Carl Bengtsson, the original Millesg�rden expanded over the years to its current five-acre museum with sculpture gardens, fountains, terraces, studios, and stairways. The stunning cliffside park and museum evokes the gardens of Italy's Mediterranean coast - with the addition of snow in the winter rendering the setting even more enchanted.

Well-known for his fountains and his commissioned works throughout the States, the celebrated Swedish sculptor Carl Milles was artist in residence and professor at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Michigan from 1931-1950, but it is at Millesg�rden that the monumental works of Milles seem most at home. Often naked and somewhat homoerotic, Milles' sculptures were so often underappreciated in the States that Milles kept a fig leaf maker on retainer.

Open to the public since the late Thirties, Millesg�rden recently finished renovations on the lower terrace fountains, thereby insuring that Milles' renditions of Jonah and the Whale and Europa remain in the company of the gargantuan Poseidon. Whether you visit in the summer or winter, an afternoon at Millesg�rden is as romantic as the love story that produced such an idyllic sanctuary.

LINK: Millesgarden

Vasa Museum:

You have to see it to believe it, which is, perhaps, one reason why the Vasa Museum is the most visited museum in Scandinavia, with over one million visitors a year - and more than 30 million visitors since the museum opened in 1961. Now embarking upon its 50th anniversary year, the Vasa Museum's new home was purpose-built in 1990 to house the only preserved 17th-century ship in the world. It was in 1628 that the Vasa commenced her maiden voyage - only to founder twenty minutes after setting sail and, ultimately, sink into Stockholm harbor, where she rested on the seabed for more than 333 years. Start your visit to the Vasa Museum with the 25-minute film (available in sixteen languages) - and then head upstairs to the top floor where you can grasp the immensity of this boat and the feat of engineering that enabled it to be lifted intact from the water. Few other places in the world provide such verisimilitude to 17th-century maritime life - but for 20th-century museum lovers, there's also a well-stocked shop and a lovely restaurant.

LINK: Vasa Museum

Skansen:

Founded in 1891, Skansen was the world's first open-air museum - and conceivably the most Swedish museum in Stockholm in that it commemorates an agrarian Swedish culture of the late nineteenth century marked by romance and patriotism. Devoted to folklore, Skansen's annual schedule is a celebration of feasts, folk music, living crafts, and household activities - culminating each year with the traditional Swedish Christmas market. Since 1903, Christmas has been marked at Skansen by an entire month of events, with markets selling Swedish specialties such as sugared almonds, marzipan, cheese, and sausages, as well as hand-knitted goods. With live music and dancing and the smell of home cooking on open fires, Skansen at Christmas is a joyful reminder of the holiday season's more simple pleasures. The setting is impossibly romantic - and when combined with the ferry ride back to your hotel, you're incurably smitten by Christmas in Stockholm.

LINK: Skansen

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(Continued on next page: Where to Stay and Where to Eat in Stockholm...)

WHERE TO STAY

Hotel Skeppsholmen:

While each of the fourteen isles that comprise Stockholm's city proper has its attributes, the sylvan Skeppsholmen is, arguably, the city's most picturesque. With its landscaped walkways and waterfront vistas, Skeppsholmen is the equivalent of an island park, surrounded by the city - and the Hotel Skeppsholmen perfectly complements the isle's restorative serenity.

Opened in October 2009 in two structures from 1699, the Hotel Skeppsholmen takes up the entire "Long Row" of houses that originally housed the Royal Marines. Built from the ruins of Swedish castles, the structures were added to Sweden's historic buildings register in 1935. Given the buildings' cultural significance (dignitaries and emissaries were often in residence), the hotel's resultant renovations are both respectful and innovative, while using original floorboards and bricks, as well as other recycled materials. Each of the hotel's 81 capacious rooms is named for a celebrated individual who resided there - albeit before the addition of such modern touches as 37-inch flat-screen TVs with DVDs, minibars, closet safety boxes, and bathrooms with beautiful Boffi basins and artfully-illuminated rain showers.

A member of Design Hotels, Hotel Skeppsholmen was designed by Claesson Kolvisto Rune (Venice Biennale, 2004) - and the rooms reflect that blissful contemplative state that often results from a waterfront setting. With customized furnishings such as writing desks, each room also features modern chairs and pleasing lighting (as well as wireless Internet). Yet it is the views from the hotel's large windows that prove most enchanting - and make it difficult to leave the premises.

The Skeppsholmen regards itself as an "urban oasis," a claim that is further substantiated by its cultural neighbors: the Museum of Modern Art, the Swedish Museum of Architecture, the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities, and a garden of sculpture by Niki de Saint Phalle. You could easily spend your time in Stockholm without stepping foot off Skeppsholmen - and not feel at all badly for doing so. A true cultural oasis, the Hotel Skeppsholmen is as hot as it is cool - and it's no surprise that the Skeppsholmen is listed on the Cond� Nast Traveler 2010 Hot List (in fact, the Skeppsholmen is the only Scandinavian hotel listed).

The hotel's dining rooms showcase the Swedish brand of conviviality known as "Social Dining," whereby locals and guests commingle over the best of Swedish cuisine. Breakfasts are copious - and relaxed; you could easily remain at table for hours, gazing onto the waterfront and the Skating Pavilion, which was built in 1882 by the Royal Skating Club and the Yacht Club (and which is one reason why the in-house toiletries by Byredo are slightly redolent of chocolate: in honor of the hot chocolate annually served to the Swedish King at the pavilion).

In winter, the grounds of the Skeppsholmen are a winter wonderland of snow-covered trees and white-shrouded statuary, while the summer setting is one that begs for its own George Seurat painting. Managed by the delightful (and gay) Joachim Olausson, the Skeppsholmen is a proud member of the IGLTA - and a repository for every naval officer fantasy you might privately harbor. Register at the Hotel Skeppsholmen and you might find yourself considering a permanent relocation to Stockholm.

LINK: Hotel Skeppsholmen

Hilton Slussen:

Situated on the island of S�dermalm in one of the more convenient locations in Stockholm, the Hilton Stockholm Slussen is within easy walking distance of Stockholm's many tourist attractions. Many of the spacious rooms offer sea views of the Riddarfj�rden, while the Executive Rooms include buffet breakfast in the Executive Lounge. Given its proximity to Gamla Stan (Old Town), the Hilton Stockholm Slussen is perfectly positioned for the inveterate shopper.

LINK: Hilton Slussen

WHERE TO EAT:

Den Gyldene Freden:

From the moment you cross the threshold of this charming and atmospheric eighteenth-century tavern, you understand why the esteemed Swedish Academy has held its weekly Thursday dinner here since the dawn of the 20th century. Den Gyldene Freden (which translates to "the Golden Peace," a reference to the peace of Nystad in 1721) has been serving authentic Swedish dishes since its opening in 1722. As popular with Stockholmers as it is with global gourmands, the restaurant adheres to the antecedents of today's "slow food" and "locavore" philosophies, with an emphasis on rustic, rural cuisine originated in the Swedish countryside. The seasonal menu includes twelve-hour pig roasts and thinly-sliced smoked reindeer, and other sour and salty specialties - alongside a commitment to utilize as much as possible of all slaughtered animals. Den Gyldene Freden's motto, "Fine, fresh, and fair" has earned the restaurant a Michelin Guide's Bib Gourmand award for quality food at reasonable prices.

LINK: Den Gyldene Freden

WHERE ELSE TO EAT

Restaurant Torget: Remember when Indochine was the scene for everyone who was someone and wanted to be someone in the city of New York? Remember the nights that stretched into the wee morning hours? The clamor and the laughter, the music and the table-hopping? For more than a decade, it seemed that everyone ended up at Indochine - and that's how it is at Torget. Stockholmers flock to this baroque bordello for a wildly good time; the mixture of people is as rich as any chosen by a supercilious doorperson - and the food is way more delicious than you might expect from a bar/restaurant. Best of all, the raucous atmosphere is like a private house party, where the staff is as comely and colorful as the characters they're serving.

LINK: Torget Baren

F12 Salongen: With its dark wood floors, leather sofas, and bordello chairs, F12 Salongen (sister lounge to the acclaimed F12 restaurant) appears as an amalgam of a gentlemen's club lobby and a 19th-century brothel parlor. But you needn't fear the d�cor for the premises are run by the F12 Group (a reference to the restaurant's address at Fredsgatan 12), the successful restaurateurs who, for sixteen years, have opened a number of Stockholm's more innovative and exciting restaurants. Located at the Royal Academy of Art, a splendid eighteenth-century edifice, F12 Salongen's menu adheres to the restaurant's time-honored tradition of monthly themes, which in 2010 included: spices in February, wild berries in August, harvest festival in October, and late autumn fishing in November. The energy is both playful and professional, with the party increasing in intensity as the night rolls on.

LINK: F12 Salongen

XOKO: While wandering Stockholm's fourteen interconnected islands, it's likely that you'll need to recharge your batteries with an infusion of chocolate, caffeine, and Swedish pastries. In fact, Xoko might well be one of your mandatory Stockholm destinations: a local haunt that perfectly suits Hemingway's phrase, "a clean, well-lighted place" - with the addition of chocolate. Combined with the superb coffee and perhaps a cardamom bun, Xoko's chocolates fortify you for another fourteen hours of walking through this most beautiful city.

LINK: Xoko

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(Continued on next page: Where to Shop, LGBT Stockholm, and Getting There...)

WHERE TO SHOP

Efva Attling:

Trained as a silversmith during her adolescence, Efva Attling was discovered by Eileen Ford - and for the next twelve years, Attling worked as an international model. As a designer, she collaborated with H&M and Levis, and as a singer/songwriter, she had a band called the X Models - but ever since her return to designing jewelry, Attling's heart and soul have been best represented by her eponymous line of jewelry, bearing such monikers as "Beauty With A Thought," "Homo Sapiens," and "Memento Vivere." Seeing k.d. lang wearing a "Homo" pendant, Efva's wife (the Swedish pop star Eva Dahlgren) suggested that Attling design something similar - and the result was a collection of LGBT jewelry bearing the words HOMO and SAPIENS as a reminder that all people are equal, in spite of restrictive and unjust laws and legal codes. Attling's Stockholm stores are sanctuaries of style and class - and her workroom/studio provides a fascinating glimpse into the mind of one of the world's more thoughtful and creative jewelers.

LINK: Efva Attling
Homo sapiens

LGBT Stockholm News and Events:

The Stockholm Gay & Lesbian Network was formed by Stockholm Visitors Board in 2005 with the purpose of working closely with the travel industry to insure that LGBT visitors know about Stockholm's traditions of openness and diversity.

The Stockholm Gay & Lesbian Network functions as a network-based partnership that works closely with VisitSweden and special interest organizations such as Stockholm Gay Life, QX, and Stockholm Pride.

The network is also active within international organizations such as IGLTA (the International Gay & Lesbian Travel Association) and CMI (Community Marketing), while also attending international trade fairs and conferences.

For the latest updates, news, and events on LGBT Stockholm, visit the Stockholm Gay & Lesbian Network.

LINK: Stockholm Gay & Lesbian Network

GETTING THERE: SAS Airlines flies direct to Stockholm from New York's JFK with a crew that is both professional and fun-loving (on a recent flight from Stockholm to JFK, the entire SAS crew serenaded the newlywed LGBT winners of the "Love Is In the Air" sweepstakes with their own version of "I Am What I Am," while also dispensing wedding cake).

SAS Business Class is truly deluxe, with a self-massaging bed/chair, and cabin bathrooms complete with windows (!!!) as well as fresh flowers and linens, but even SAS Economy Extra is an exceptional way to fly to or fro Stockholm, including the requisite comfort kit, full meals, plush duvets, and plenty of leg and arm space. Best of all, the SAS crew wants you to fly happy (and recently went so far as to secure a vegetarian meal for someone who'd forgotten to order ahead...).

LINK: SAS Scandinavian Airlines

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PHOTO ALBUM: Stockholm: Scandinavia's LGBT Capital

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OTHER SWEDEN TRAVEL FEATURES: IceHotel in Jukkasj�rvi, Sweden
IceHotel in Jukkasj�rvi, Sweden Photo Album