WE SHALL OVERCOME? Historien om EKHO ? Ekumeniska gruppen för kristna HBTQ-personer
EKHO - The Ecumenical Association for Christian LGBTQ people has existed in Swedensince the 1970's second half. The movement had its ups and downs throughout the years. Inthis essay, I will examine what happened when the movement was formed and how thefirst period developed. By examining EKHO Stockholm´s magazine EKHO-bladet my task isto describe the story from when the first EKHO association was formed until the EKHO organizations of Sweden joined together and formed the National Association, Riks EKHO. My second issue is to look into which role EKHO has played for the development in LGBTQ-issues for the Church of Sweden by analyzing documents from within the church concerning these matters. We clearly see how EKHO throughout historyhave helped the Church of Sweden to move forward in talks and discussions on ChristianLGBTQ-people´s situation.The first EKHO Association in Sweden was formed in 1978, when EKHO Stockholm wasfounded. Over the last decades five local organizations of EKHO, including Stockholm, wasfounded in Sweden. 1989, the unions merged to form the National AssociationRiks EKHO. During its history, unions have operated with different characteristics suchas social activities but also information mission outward. EKHO suffered greatly in the 80'swhen HIV/AIDS hit Sweden. Ever since the association was formed it has affectedthe Church of Sweden in the direction of becoming more open on issues relatedto homosexuality and Gay Christians. EKHO representatives have been involved in almostall investigations that the Church of Sweden has made in the area since the 1980'sand until the Church of Sweden in 2009 decided that marriage between two people of thesame-sex could marry in the church. EKHO added an inside perspective that theheterosexual Christians was not able to give, which has been incredibly valuable forthe development in the Church of Sweden.