Do you have memories, diaries, letters, photographs, recordings, videos, scrap books, manuscripts, self-published works, magazine materials, documents, or other materials related to queer migration?

Queer migration refers to gender and sexual minorities or those who have challenged norms of gender, sexuality, or relationships, who have moved from Finland abroad or from abroad to Finland as communities, movements, or individuals.

Minorities represent a significant portion of migrants, but their past is not as visible in the archives. With this targeted collection campaign of LGBTQIA+ migration archival material, our goal is to enrich the Migration Institute of Finland Archives (MIF Archives) with materials concerning the past of queer migrants. This collection will enable important new research on Finnish migrants and encourages an examination of the MIF Archives from the perspective of LGBTQIA+ history.

This open collection campaign launches the Migration Institute of Finland’s archival collaboration with dramaturge Emil Santtu Uuttu. Uuttu’s play “Lovely Daughter Erika – Notes on a Name” will be on display in the Archives reading room from September 1 to November 27, 2025, and is part of the New Performance Turku Biennale program.

The Migration Institute of Finland was founded in 1974 – only three years after the decriminalization of homosexual acts and 14 years before legal gender correction became possible. The prevailing legislation and atmosphere of the time may partly explain why the past of LGBTQIA+ migrants is underrepresented in the MIF Archives.

Queer identity may also not be explicitly evident in the Archives-intended or already donated materials. The time and context of the material’s creation may have limited what was possible or necessary to record explicitly, for example, about the diversity of gender, relationships or sexuality.

The Migration Collections, Archiving, and Use of Materials

The Migration Collections of the MIF Archives is a cultural heritage archive mainly documenting emigration and expatriate Finns. It contains private correspondence, records of emigrant organizations, interviews, photographs and many other unique materials from the 19th century to the present day in both analog and digital forms. The Migration Collections is an open archive used by academic researchers, students, media, artists, genealogists and other patrons. It expands mainly through donations from private individuals.

MIF Archives organizes, describes, and preserves the material in the Migration Collections according to its guidelines, while at the same time working in cooperation with the donor, whose contextual information is very important for the usability of the material. Anonymous donations can also be made, in which case the archive processes the material independently.

A donation agreement is drawn up, transferring ownership of the material to the Migration Institute of Finland and, if necessary, agreeing on temporary usage restrictions. Copyrights do not transfer to the Institute unless otherwise agreed.

It is also possible to lend the material to the MIF Archives for copying, after which the original material is returned to the owner.

The material can be made available within the framework of legislation, separately agreed access restrictions and the Archives’ valid guidelines, both on-site in the archive’s research space and on-line (e.g. via the Finna.fi search service) when the material is in digital form.

Processing of Personal Data and Preservation of Materials

The MIF Archives processes personal data related to the collection material under the Finnish Data Protection Act (1050/2018) which is based on the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679). The grounds for processing are the public interest in archiving (Data Protection Act 4§ 4) and the public benefit in archiving (Data Protection Act 6§ 1 8).

The collection material, its cataloging information, and related personal data are permanently preserved for archiving purposes and can be made freely available to the extent permitted by law and separately agreed access restrictions and in accordance with the Archives’ valid guidelines.

The MIF Archives is always open to discussing any questions or concerns donors may have about the ethical preservation, cataloguing, and usage of their materials, at any point in the process.

Donating

If you would like to donate materials, please contact the Archivist of the MIF Archives to make arrangements: jarno.heinila@migrationinstitute.fi / +358406313042

Keyword List

In the collection call we use contemporary vocabulary based on the General Finnish Ontology (YSO), but words describing gender, sexuality and relationships are time-bound. We may, however, still recognize something familiar from the past through, for example, the use of these current vocabulary. We use contemporary vocabulary in the collection call, but words describing gender, sexuality, and relationships are time-bound. We may still recognize something familiar from the past through these currently used keywords.

  • Gender expression
  • Gender diversity
  • Non-binary
  • Gender minorities
  • Transgender
  • Trans people
  • Genderqueer
  • Legal gender recognition
  • Gender affirmation
  • Intersexuality
  • Gender equality
  • Sexual and gender minority rights
  • LGBTQIA+ rights
  • Adoption rights
  • Gender affirming treatments
  • Sexual minorities
  • Homosexuality
  • Bisexuality
  • Pansexuality
  • Asexuality
  • Queer
  • Diverse families
  • Blended families
  • Rainbow families
  • Polyamory
  • Open relationships
  • Communal parenting
  • Social parenting
  • Chosen families
  • Partnership parenting
  • Challenging traditional family models
  • Gender norms
  • Sexual norms
  • Trans history
  • Queer history
  • LGBTQIA+ history
  • Queer activism
  • Pride movement
  • HIV/AIDS history