REYKJAVÍK, Iceland (TNND) — A gay rights activist from Iceland claims a local police department launched an investigation into his social media posts questioning whether biologically male transgender individuals can breastfeed.
Eldur Smári Kristinsson, 45, is an activist with the Icelandic LGBT rights watchdog group Samtökin 22. He is known for his social media presence that is often critical of the transgender movement.
Kristinsson was a candidate in an Icelandic parliamentary election last month “to put the dangers of gender ideology, and the harm it poses to children and vulnerable adults, on the agenda,” he wrote via a GoFundMe page.
He claimed that, toward the end of his campaign, the Icelandic public broadcasting service RÚV “made libelous and defamatory statements” during the show “Forystusætið,” a political program literally meaning “the leadership seat.”
Kristinsson claims police in the Suðurnes region of Iceland contacted him soon thereafter saying he was under investigation over his social media posts. At the center of the investigation was a post in which he dismissed claims that transgender women can breastfeed.
“I want to sue the broadcaster and the chairwoman for the National Queer Association for their libellous and defamatory statements about me, but I am also likely having to defend myself in criminal court proceedings,” his GoFundMe reads.
Kristinsson’s crowdfunding effort has raised € 3,000, or about $3,154, across 79 donations as of Monday afternoon.
Neither the Suðurnes police department nor RÚV returned requests for comment from The National News Desk sent Monday.
The battle between Kristinsson and RÚV comes as governments around the world are grappling with issues concerning the transgender community. The United Kingdom last week placed an indefinite national ban on puberty blockers for children who identify as transgender.
“Children’s healthcare must always be evidence-led,” Health and Social Care Secretary West Streeting said. “The independent expert Commission on Human Medicines found that the current prescribing and care pathway for gender dysphoria and incongruence presents an unacceptable safety risk for children and young people.”
In the United States, Rep. Adam Smith, D-Wash., last week called on House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to “abandon” an annual defense policy bill over a portion restricting certain gender dysphoria treatments for individuals under 18. A section of the bill prevents the health care program used by servicemembers and their families from covering gender dysphoria treatments “that could result in sterilization” for minors.
“Speaker Johnson is pandering to the most extreme elements of his party to ensure that he retains his speakership,” he wrote. “I urge the Speaker to abandon this current effort and let the House bring forward a bill—reflective of the traditional bipartisan process—that supports our troops and their families, invests in innovation and modernization, and doesn’t attack the transgender community.”
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