Legislation
Regarding the legal rights of LGBTI people in Greenland the country has historically followed Denmark, with a few years’ delay. Since 2016, same-sex marriage has been permitted in Greenland (Denmark, 2012). In December 2023, the Danish Folketing voted in favour of a legislative amendment recognising ‘co-parenting’, thereby enabling two women to be parents of a child in Greenland. However, the law does not cover male same-sex couples.
Since 1 July 2024, there has been a comprehensive law on equal treatment and anti-discrimination in Greenland. The grounds for discrimination listed in the LGBTI context are sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and gender characteristics. In connection with the new Equality Act, an independent Equality Board was also established to examine complaints of discrimination against individual Greenlandic citizens, similar to a discrimination ombudsman.
Policy and key factors
In Greenland, the Minister for Health and Social Affairs is responsible for LGBTI issues. There are also independent national key actors working to promote LGBTI people’s right to equal conditions and opportunities. IPPS (IPPS – Pisinnaatitaaffiit) is Greenland’s National Institute for Human Rights, an independent council that contributes to general knowledge and skills development and is tasked with promoting and protecting human rights in Greenland. It was established in 2013 by the Greenlandic Parliament.
IPPS does not deal with individual cases or complaints but works proactively at a general level. In 2024, IPPS, together with the LGBTI organisation Sipineq+, released ‘At være LGBTQIA+ i Kalaallit Nunaat’, (Being LGBTQIA+ in Kalaallit Nunaat) the first publication of its kind. The aim was to highlight the LGBTI situation in Greenland and raise awareness of rights that are secured for all Greenlanders today, such as the right to health, the right to equal treatment and the right to non-discrimination. The Greenlandic report notes that there are particular challenges linked to the right to health for LGBTI people. The lack of resources and the treatment received within the healthcare system, as well as vast geographical distances, lead to vulnerability for LGBTI people. A concrete example of this lack of resources is that it is currently not possible to receive gender hormone treatment in Greenland, which has significant consequences for the individual.
The report At være LGBTQIA+ i Kalaallit Nunaat (Being LGBTQIA+ in Kalaallit Nunaat) also highlights the lack of data on the circumstances of LGBTI people in Greenland as a major obstacle. The report therefore draws largely on major international surveys and small, specific studies on LGBTI people who belong to an indigenous population. To gain a better understanding of the conditions and challenges faced by LGBTI people, and to enable comparison with the rest of the population, the report’s authors recommend that questions regarding sexuality and gender identity be included in the nationwide population surveys. The report emphasises the need for Greenlandic data in this area, so that strategic action plans for the LGBTI community can be drawn up based on the Greenlandic population.
In 2025, IPS, Sipineq + and the Centre for Public Health in Greenland received external funding for a nationwide survey on the health and well-being of LGBTQIA+ citizens in Greenland. The forthcoming survey builds on the ongoing national population survey and will make it possible to compare the health and well-being of LGBTI people with that of the rest of the population.
Civil society
The LGBTI organisation Sipineq+ was founded in 2023 and has grown in recent years to become the main LGBTI organisation in Greenland. Prior to this, LGBT+ Greenland was the organisation pushing these issues, but it is no longer active. Sipineq+ currently has a board of nine members and plays a key role in organising Nuuk Pride, serving as a meeting place for LGBTI people and actively campaigning for LGBTI rights in Greenland.
Sipineq+ is one of the co-producers of At være LGBTQIA+ i Kalaallit Nunaat (Being LGBTQIA+ in Kalaallit Nunaat) and has contributed concrete examples of experiences of being an LGBTI person in Greenland and which rights they consider to be particularly under threat.
The Nordic Institution in Greenland (NAPA) is involved in LGBTI issues in various ways, primarily through Nuuk Pride. In 2025, they organised the event ‘Pride in Perspective’. They also support organisations working on LGBTI issues by providing meeting venues for groups such as Sipineq+. In 2012, NAPA published the book ‘Gay Greenland’, which contains 61 portraits of what was then considered a minority in Greenland.
Nordic cooperation
To date, no fund projects with an LGBTI focus, in which any Greenlandic actor participates, have been financed by the Nordic Gender Equality Fund and the Nordic LGBTI Fund.