Sweden gets first trans minister as PM Magdalena Andersson unveils female-majority cabinet

The newly-minted Swedish PM Magdalena Andersson announced her new Social Democrat government on Tuesday and appointed the country's first transgender minister. Last week, Andersson had resigned seven hours after being chosen as Sweden’s first female PM, however, she emerged triumphant after another vote in the parliament on Monday. On November 30, Andersson then formally presented her one-party minority government and named Lina Axelsson Kihlblom, who has gone through a gender transition, as the Nordic nation’s school minister. 

On Tuesday, Lina Axelsson Kihlblom became the first transgender person to become a government minister in Sweden. According to Local Sweden, the 51-year-old, who was born a man and transitioned in the 1990s, is a former school principal and lawyer. Divorced and the mother of two adopted children, Axelsson Kihlblom became known after her successful work was chronicled in a televised documentary series. 

In an interview with Swedish public radio after the appointment, Kihlblom said, “This is not a big deal, although it is important to me and many others who are experiencing the same issues. If I, in any small way, can be a role model or a trailblazer I am happy about that.” 

Previously, Kihlblom had described growing up as a girl in a boy’s body. In her 2015 book ‘Will You Love Me Now?’, the 51-year-old had informed that she completed the physical transition to a woman’s body at the age of 25. “Trans people have always existed, they will always exist and we no longer feel ashamed. We are the new normal,” she wrote in an article published in 2018 by public broadcaster SVT.

Sweden’s one-part minority government

Meanwhile, coming back to Sweden’s one-part minority government, Andersson made only minor changes to the previous cabinet. The new government of the Nordic nation consists of 12 women and 11 men. According to EuroNews, Mikael Damberg, Sweden’s former home affairs minister, has been nominated to replace Andersson as finance minister. Ann Linde will remain the Nordic nation’s foreign minister. Peter Hultqvist has been kept as defence minister. 

Now, Sweden will be presenting a new action plan soon as it prepares for a worsening COVID-19 pandemic. In a speech to parliament on Tuesday, Andersson also said that her government would champion "a green industrial revolution", improve a welfare system sorely tested by the coronavirus pandemic and gang violence. "Serious violence is a poison that threatens our entire unity as a society," she said.

(Image: Twitter)