The LGBTIQ+ List 2022: Alexander Rastén Rydberg, Dansk Live

The LGBTIQ+ List 2022 – IQ Magazine’s second annual celebration of queer professionals who make an immense impact in the international live music business – was published in the Pride edition (issue 112) this month.

The July 2022 issue, which is available to read now, was made possible thanks to support from Ticketmaster. 

To get to know this year’s queer pioneers a little better, we interviewed each individual on their challenges, triumphs, advice and more.

Throughout the next month, IQ will publish a new interview each day, starting with Alexander Rastén Rydberg (he/him/his), head of diversity and talent management at Dansk Live in Denmark.

Tell us about a personal triumph in your career
In 2022, I was appointed vice president of the Nightlife Committee in Copenhagen by the mayor of culture. It’s been three long years fighting for queer and minority rights in nightlife that culminated in a position from where I (and the Copenhagen Club Commission) can actually make changes to the cultural system and introduce safer spaces, awareness policies and minority positions to conventional nightlife across the city.

What advice could you give to young queer professionals?
This is your world. You’re never alone. Trust your gut. The current most progressive initiatives in the Danish live industry are started by queer and minority communities. You’re a part of that generational wave. Don’t let the heteronormative structure tell you anything else.

One thing the live industry could do to be a more inclusive place?
Many cultural experiences only cater to a cis- and straight-oriented crowd. This is a fact, but it’s not totally acknowledged in the live industry. In order to act on this, we have to learn and listen to the minorities that are excluded, on many different aspects. Only then can we create more inclusiveness.

“The first dance floor on which I could kiss my boyfriend without getting comments was created by Ved Siden Af”

A cause you support
Together WE PUSH. In Denmark, we have some very sad and ridiculous integrations laws that result in women and kids getting stuck in deportation camps. Together WE PUSH is helping these refugee families – organising football games for kids and so on.

The queer act you’re itching to see live this year
Lil Nas X. I absolutely love how he provokes the whole heteronormative world just by being himself. Also, he is quite handsome…

Your favourite queer space
Ved Siden Af – one of the only queer-friendly techno venues in Copenhagen. The crew that runs it have played an important role in my life as a younger queer person. The first dance floor on which I could kiss my boyfriend without getting comments was created by Ved Siden Af, and they continue to challenge the conventional majority norms in the clubbing scene.

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