”I went too far in so many ways”

Måns Zelmerlöw would like to apologize

Discussion around the dinner table in the TV3 program Pluras kök (Plura’s Kitchen):

Miriam Bryant: ”So you consider homosexuality to be an anomaly?”
Måns: Yes, I do. I don’t mean that there is anything wrong with it at all. But the natural thing is that it is a man and a woman who make children together, and thereby procreating the entire species.
Miriam Bryant: But isn’t it just as natural for man and man, woman and woman to want to make love together?
Måns: No, it is not as natural. If we look at the fact that they don’t create children together. Somewhere it has to be innate that we have to procreate the species and I think this exists in all species.

I have met Måns many times throughout the years and always perceived him as being very open minded. Therefore I was one of those that did not get that upset, who thought we could forgive and move on. With alcohol in the body, everybody blurts out things they don’t mean and I knew where Måns’ sympathies lay.
But on Facebook and Twitter the storm continued. Because the statements were stronger than a “forgive and forget”. Some argued that the truth comes out when you are drunk.
A truth about what is natural and what man is created for.
A ”truth” that the Nazi Nordfront kidnapped and made our Måns into their Måns.

The day after the discussions during the taping of Pluras kök in October 2013 Måns felt very bad. For his choice of words, his reasoning and because he felt that he had hurt those from whom he had always received love, those he had always liked so much and who are his friends.
– I chose extremely bad words and expressed myself idiotically. I really didn’t put any evaluation on the word anomaly, but used it with the meaning “less usual”. But directly afterwards I understood that the word is very negatively charged and that I should have avoided it.
– But it was the word “natural” which, in this context, was absolutely the most stupid. There I went too far in so many ways. I would really like to emphasize that homosexuality is just as natural as heterosexuality. It is just as natural with sex between men and sex between women.
– The discussion concerned reproduction and what brings man forward. And that was what I was aiming at. And no, to procreate is of course not the only purpose of our existence.
So that “man is born with a natural attraction to the female” is just a stupid quote?
– Yes, it is. It was an unthought-through and stupid quote.

We are sitting at his kitchen table and the guy in front of me is far from the smiling presenter and artist we often see in the newspapers. This has gnawed at him for half a year. He wants to explain and be forgiven. Not just let it be forgotten.
Måns says that it feels good to talk about this again. After the tabloids hunted him and social media overran with Måns-hatred, he has kept a low profile.
– I think that everybody knows that I’m not a homophobe, that I have never been a homophobe, and that I will never become a homophobe. On the contrary, I have been pro-HBTQ my whole life. I have performed at the Gay Gala several times and take part in Pride almost every year. I have loads of friends who are homosexual. And I have said how much I would have liked to be gay, but that that little thing is missing.

He smiles for the first time since we sat down at his kitchen table. The last time we sat here, we were planning the Gay Gala and the Rainbow opening with ”Propaganda”. Måns felt completely right as the choice of host of the gala.
When he accepted to host the gala, he knew that the broadcast of Pluras kök was coming up. But he didn’t want to let that affect his decision.
– I knew that there would be a riot, but it was not allowed to affect the fact that I wanted to host the Gay Gala so much. I wanted, once more, to show clearly where I stood and that I love the Gala. I have been there as a guest several times and seen what a fantastic job Sissela and Carina Berg have done (as hosts).
– And to be the host was the funniest gig I had ever done. Very often you have a strict script to stick to, but this was a funny script that suited me and that I could live out. And the reactions I got were so nice.

But then that Friday came when the tabloid reporters had seen that episode of Pluras kök. And the guy who had been celebrated for his Gala evening, became the national homophobe over night.
– I felt that I wanted to disappear and not wake up for two months. This was the worst thing that had happened in my entire career. Therefore I immediately admitted everything and apologized.
He says that many of his gay friends called, sent messages and wrote. They wanted to show their support, because they knew that he in reality stood for something else than what had been expressed in the program.
– They understood that I had used idiotic words. That felt very nice and I didn’t feel that everybody was against me.
But what was worse was that Nazi movements tried to make out that Måns was on their side.
– The absolute worst thing was the conservative voices who spoke up and thought that I was on their side: ”Oh, finally somebody who says it the way it is.” That was the most offensive thing, because I will never be on their side … I want in all possible ways to dissociate myself from their reasoning and ideologies on what is normal and natural.
He continues:
– And who the hell wants to be normal? I don’t see myself as normal and I really like differences and people who stand for who they are.
What do you think the LGBT-people think of you today?
– I don’t know… My gay friends have forgiven me but I don’t know how it looks to the rest of Sweden. I feel that I disappointed those who don’t know me. The intention was never to put a knife in the back of the entire gay movement.
What would you answer if we ask if you would like to hand out the awards at the Gala?
– Yes. I would probably be very nervous, but I would like to write something very good that I could say to all those who didn’t read this interview. I would so very much like to put a stop to this because it was never my intention to hurt anybody. I expressed myself very stupidly and I have really learnt something from all this.