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For an American couple living abroad, you might think 4,000 miles between their adopted home country and the U.S. would help keep the political chaos across the Atlantic on mute.
You’d be wrong, says Bryan McColgan, who’s made a life with his husband in Sweden for the last seven years.
“While it can be easier to ‘turn off’ the political tumult in America, the truth is that America affects the entire world. Even in Sweden, we can’t escape the political and economic repercussions of America.”
McColgan’s husband, Victor, knew Sweden from a study-abroad program in college and loved it. Both men have Swedish ancestry. So the pair decided to pack up and move their lives and dog to Stockholm in 2019.
“Living in a different country means every day is a learning experience,” McColgan says. “After seven years, I am still learning every day, whether it’s the language, how things work, or some aspect of Swedish culture or history. It can be challenging not to feel 100% comfortable all the time, but this is also the best part of living abroad.”
The couple stays connected with their compatriots through a group called Americans in Sweden. That’s how they ended up joining the U.S. Embassy for the Stockholm Pride parade in 2023, along with McColgan’s best friend on a visit to Sweden’s “endless summer.”
“While Stockholm is very dark and cold most of the year, the endless summer sun is a thing of beauty,” McColgan says.
Stockholm enjoys about 20 hours of daylight in peak summer. The parade stepped off that year on one of those “joyful days.”
“People lined up all along the parade route for miles. The American float was extremely popular at this time,” McColgan says. A DJ was spinning American hits while Bryan, Victor, Oriana, and a scrum of Americans in Sweden danced down the parade route.
“Swedes love music, and American music is some of the most popular in Sweden,” he says.
Two years later: record scratch.
The current administration ended the U.S. Embassy’s participation in Stockholm Pride and every other Pride celebration around the world in 2025.
“We have not engaged in any Embassy activities since then,” McColgan says.
Swedes don’t hold Americans responsible for the bad behavior of their government, he explains.
“I haven’t experienced any anti-American attitudes towards Americans in Sweden during my time here. Once I explain my political position and voting record, Swedes understand where I’m coming from and don’t ask me to defend myself.”
While Americans endure their own endless summers with a sundowning president, Bryan and Victor are enjoying Sweden’s “very open and accepting” embrace of them and the LGBTQ+ community.
“There is a respect for privacy and a lack of making LGBTQ+ issues political talking points,” he says. “People live their lives and focus on fixing the big problems that we all face.”
The same “values of equality, family-centricity, and open-mindedness” that Swedish immigrants brought to the U.S. are alive and well where they came from, McColgan says.
“I think the U.S. can learn from that.”
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