RSS feed from Icelandreview.com
Icelandreview.com on your mobile (Nokia)
Yesterday Snorri Óskarsson, a middle-aged middle school teacher in the North Icelandic town of Akureyri was sent home on six months paid leave because of his anti-gay blog.
The member of Iceland’s Pentecostalism church has been particularly active and vocal on his personal blog describing gay people as equally guilty and sinful as bank robbers. Or worse. Homosexuality is such a sin, Snorri argued, that the punishment for it is death.
Parents of his students called for action, stating that that this was not a person suitable for teaching their children the difference between right and wrong.
This is not the first time that Snorri has made headlines for his anti-gay propaganda; in 2010 he got a warning from the Akureyri town council, after similar blog entries.
This time, action was taken. Yesterday the town council called him to a meeting, informing him that he would be suspended from his position for six months.
“I will use this paid leave to blog, and bring the true word of God to the masses,” Snorri told visir.is. “That is my constitutional right.”
Less than 1,000 Icelanders are active members of the Pentecostalism church.
Iceland’s Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir is openly lesbian, making her the world’s first openly gay leader of a nation. She is married to writer Jónína Leósdóttir.
PS
A petition urging the government to reconsider a proposed bill, in which the terms of the law requiring fishing companies to pay a tariff for their use of Iceland’s fishing resources are to be changed, has been signed by more than 11,000 people.
more
Prime Minister of Iceland Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson is meeting with Prime Minister of Sweden Frederik Reinfeldt today, 
A three-meter long walrus was discovered on the shores by Eyri in the town of Reyðarfjörður in East Iceland yesterday.
more
In 1915, women aged 40 and over were granted the right to cast a vote in all official elections held in Iceland.
more
The 2013 June-July issue of Iceland Review is out. Themed ‘We Are Young’ the magazine celebrates the arrival of summer by interviewing young energetic Icelanders who excel in art, sports, business and politics—and Sigmundur Davíð Gunnlaugsson, the youngest PM in the republic’s history and the world’s youngest ruling state leader. Click here to take a look at a selection of the current issue and here to subscribe to the magazine.
more
REVIEWS
amiina
The road to Höfn, a 1,690-person harbor town by the fjord Hornafjörður, is lined with reindeer. Whole herds of the wild horned animals rest peacefully on withered pastures, grace next to sheep and horses and bounce along the road. Soon, Vatnajökull, Europe’s largest glacier and the region’s biggest attraction, comes into view. Looming over Höfn, its outlet glaciers flow down from the mountains on which the bright white icecap rests.
more
Sin Fang will celebrate the release of his third album with a release concert in Iðnó on June 12. Flowers was released in February by Morr Music and has been well received by music enthusiasts and critics alike. The concert will be supported by Vök, this year’s winners of the Icelandic Music Experiments.
more
 Costs Teacher Job&p[title]=Anti-Gay Blog (Almost) Costs Teacher Job&p[images][0]=http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/upload/images/news/almennt/100x100_akureyri-winter2003_ps.jpg&p[summary]=Yesterday, Snorri %C3%93skarsson, a middle-aged middle school teacher in the North Icelandic town of Akureyri was sent home on six months paid leave because of his anti-gay blog.')){kind=link}