Welcome to something that was missing. Welcome to the Rainbow Foundation's Business Day 2026. 🌈 Swedish business is driving Sweden forward. But when it comes to openness, it is still silent. The higher up at the top, the fewer open LGBTQ people. We intend to change that. The Rainbow Foundation is now creating a new arena where some of Sweden's most influential voices from business, politics and media come together around a crucial question: how do we make business truly LGBTQ-inclusive. The day is led by Aaron Kroon, Chairman of the Board of the Rainbow Foundation and one of the few open LGBTQ people in the top echelons of business. He will start together with Sweden's Minister for Gender Equality Nina Larsson. During the morning, Aaron will be interviewed by journalist and presenter Jenny Strömstedt in a personal and vulnerable conversation about leadership, power and courage. We are also gathering a high-profile CEO panel with leaders who have the power to change. Together we are shifting positions and making Swedish business a place where more people can be themselves. All the way up.

The day is held in collaboration with Berns and Nordea Private Banking.

The Rainbow Prize, worth SEK 100,000, goes to the Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) and its CEO Emmett Schelling, whose leadership and activism have been crucial to the organization's work and to the defense of transgender rights in Texas and the United States.

The Transgender Education Network of Texas (TENT) is a trans-led organization that works to strengthen transgender rights in the state and provide transgender people with access to care and support. In a United States where attacks on transgender rights have increased sharply in recent years, TENT has become an important voice in the resistance to increasingly harsh anti-trans policies. Under Emmett Schelling's leadership, TENT has become one of the most influential trans organizations in the United States.

Some examples of TENT’s work:

· TENT and Emmett Schelling played a central role in stopping the so-called “bathroom bill” in Texas in 2017, which would have forced transgender people to use public restrooms that match the gender they were assigned at birth.

· In 2025, TENT introduced over 100 bills to strengthen the rights and improve the lives of LGBTQ people in Texas. The bills were a response to the over 200 anti-trans and anti-gay bills that were introduced in the state assembly that same year and show that there are alternatives to the hostile and hateful narrative that is increasingly directed at LGBTQ people in the state.

· In the same year, the organization launched a so-called “bill tracker” – a website that lists hostile bills against LGBTQ people in Texas and makes it easier for people to follow and thereby influence the legislative process.

· Through the Know Your Rights: Voting While Trans program, TENT has created a tool to help trans people exercise their democratic right to vote and resist anti-trans intimidation at the polling stations.

· Through safe meeting places, workshops and conversation support, TENT strengthens the entire trans community

Due to US immigration policy, Emmett Schelling cannot risk coming to the Regnbågsgalan in Stockholm on April 20th in person, as he risks being denied re-entry. Instead, Lais Milburn (she/her), AndreaSegovia (she/her) and Diaz Reyes Camacho (he) from TENT will come to the Regnbågsgalan to receive the award in his place.

“Mer än ord” är inte ännu ett dokument i en byrålåda. Det är ett levande verktyg. En metod som är skapad för att omsätta värdegrund till handling – och inkludering till verklig förändring.

Metoden är framtagen för civilsamhällets organisationer som vill arbeta långsiktigt, hållbart och strukturerat med HBTQI-inkludering. Den ger konkreta verktyg, reflektion, utbildningsmoment och praktiska övningar som stärker både individ, organisation och verksamhet.

Vi vet att många vill göra rätt — men saknar stöd i hur. “Mer än ord“ möter just det glappet.

Läs mer om Mer än ord och ladda ner metoden: https://www.regnbagsfonden.org/MER-AN-BARA%20ORD

Rainbow Gala 2026 – an evening when life is a schlager! For the third year in a row, the Rainbow Foundation is hosting the Rainbow Gala to highlight and support the important fight for LGBTQ+ people’s freedom and rights. The gala takes place on Monday, April 20 at 7:00 PM at Intiman in Stockholm—an evening when life is a schlager!

Taking the stage are Pernilla Wahlgren, Christer Lindarw, Nanne Grönvall, Arja Saijonmaa, Jonas Gardell, and Mark Levengood, and during the evening the Rainbow Award of SEK 100,000 will be presented.

It will be an unforgettable night. One night only!

Tickets on https://showtic.se/forestallningar/regnbagsgalan