Finnish Court convicts MP over Christian pamphlet criticizing LGBT ideology

Päivi Räsänen. Photo: ADF International

On March 26, 2026, Finland’s Supreme Court issued its ruling in the case of Member of Parliament and former Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen. In a 3–2 decision, the court found her guilty of “hate speech” over the 2004 church pamphlet He Created Them Male and Female, in which she set out the Christian understanding of marriage and sexuality with references to both the Old and New Testaments.

The pamphlet is a 24-page church booklet published by the Luther Foundation Finland. In it, Räsänen, drawing on Scripture, including the Epistle to the Romans and First Corinthians, defends the traditional understanding of marriage as a union between a man and a woman and criticizes the equating of same-sex partnerships with marriage.

Also convicted alongside Räsänen was Lutheran Bishop Juhana Pohjola, who published the pamphlet for his church. Räsänen was fined 1,800 euros, the bishop 1,100 euros, and the foundation that published the booklet 5,000 euros.

Notably, Räsänen had previously been unanimously acquitted by two lower courts, in 2022 and 2023, but prosecutors appealed both rulings.

“I am shocked and profoundly disappointed that the court has failed to recognize my basic human right to freedom of expression,” Räsänen said after the verdict was announced. However, she added: "I will stand by the teachings of my Christian faith, and will continue to defend my and every person’s right to share their convictions in the public square."

Paul Coleman, executive director of ADF International, which represented Räsänen, called the conviction over a church pamphlet written decades before the law under which she was convicted took effect “an outrageous example of state censorship” that would have a “severe chilling effect for everyone’s right to speak freely.”

Räsänen said she is considering an appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.

Earlier, the UOJ reported that criminal proceedings had been launched in Finland against the politician over criticism of LGBT ideology.

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