Samkönade

Samkönade is a Swedish adjective meaning “of the same gender,” used to describe people, relationships, or acts involving individuals of the same sex. In practice it appears in phrases such as samkönade par, samkönat äktenskap, and samkönad kärlek. The term is neutral and common in both formal and everyday language.

The form of the word follows Swedish adjective inflection: samkönad in the singular, samkönat for neuter singular, and samkönade in the plural. It is formed from sam- (“together” or “same”) and kön (“gender” or “sex”) with the usual adjective suffix -ad. The word can describe various noun classes, for example en samkönad relation or ett samkönat förhållande, with agreement in gender and number.

In Swedish discourse, samkönade is used alongside terms like homosexuell to discuss sexual orientation, but it is often preferred in official and neutral contexts because it emphasizes the common gender rather than sexual activity. The term is common in legal, policy, sociological, and media texts dealing with equality and rights for LGBT people.

Historically, Sweden has advanced recognition of same-sex relationships, with registered partnerships introduced in 1994 and same-sex marriage legalized in 2009. Since then, samkönade relationships and families have been widely recognized in law and public policy, reflecting broader social and legal changes in the country.

See also: samkönat äktenskap, homosexuell, LGBT-rättigheter.