When Markus Lundqvist opened his shop in idyllic Kivik in Skåne in 2015, he thought it was just the right place for him. He realized his dream: A cowboy-themed store.
In 2016, he opened the doors and baked cakes for locals and tourists. The shop came to be called Cake Cowboy and quickly became popular. But the attention was not only positive. Markus Lundqvist is gay himself, and when he hung a Pride flag outside the store it was not appreciated by everyone.
– The Nazis tore down the flags for us. They put their stickers, drew swastikas on the window panes.
– Then they came to my house and stuck to my car. Then I was actually scared. Now they know where I live, I thought, says Markus Lundqvist.
Nazi organization was behind it – the leader was imprisoned
The neo-Nazi organization Nordiska Motståndsörelsen took responsibility for the vandalism. On their propaganda site Nordfront, they wrote that “gay lobby flags” were removed to “secure the existence of the nuclear family”.
The incident was reported to the police, but the investigation was dropped. However, the wording was used in a report to the Chancellor of Justice a few years later. Responsible publisher for Nordfront received four months in prison for incitement against a ethnic group.
Municipal police officer Birte Parkhagen says that vandalism and Nazi presence are unusual in Österlen, but that it sometimes happens.
– We have the Romani memorials that were vandalized and then we had the case of Cake Cowboy. Sometimes we get in that NMR stickers have been found, but then people often tear them down. But otherwise, we don’t have very many of these types of cases.
People rallied behind Cake Cowboy
The rumor that the newly started shop was harassed by Nazis spread quickly in and outside the village. About thirty businesses raised the Pride flag to show their support and villagers chimed in. Markus Lundqvist tells about a visitor who was there with his child and explained that “the Pride flag stands for everyone’s equal value”.
He talks about that period with a joy in his voice.
– When it came out that we had been harassed, the villagers stood up. It was very nice.
Markus Lundqvist became a national celebrity after competing in Kanal 5’s “Dessertmästarna” twice.
But the support died out and Markus Lundqvist talks about unpleasant events in the store.
– We had customers who came in and looked at us and said: “What are you doing here? Why are you here?” There were many people playing tricks on us.
– A man came in when my colleague was standing at the till and said “They are so disgusting, those who like the same sex”. He just stood there and shouted it into my shop, says Markus.
Markus Lundqvist says that he experienced how he and his colleague were not welcome in restaurants. After three years, he had enough and in the spring of 2022 he chose to leave.
– Should we have to be in a place where I have to defend my existence all the time?
Cake Cowboy chooses to leave Österlen
He says that it wasn’t just the homophobic outbursts that made him choose to leave Kivik. Cake Cowboy wanted to hire more staff and didn’t have enough turnover in Kivik. But the fact that he felt alone and outcast was part of the decision.
That’s why he chose to move to his home district in Lysekil, a small town on the coast of Bohuslän.
– I wanted to go home to my family and be where I grew up.
Despite everything that happened in Kivik, Markus Lundqvist says he has no regrets. He describes Kivik as a place where he got the opportunity to start up his dream company.
– I am still very happy with what I have received and what has come to me.
Markus Lundqvist and colleague Camilla Carlsson have moved to Lysekil and run the store together.
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