Karen-Christine Friele ( Wilhelmsen; 27 May 1935 – 22 November 2021), known as Kim Friele, was a Norwegian

gay rights Rights affecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people vary greatly by country or jurisdiction—encompassing everything from the legal recognition of same-sex marriage to the death penalty for homosexuality. Notably, , 3 ...

and

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

activist, famous for being the first gay Norwegian to publicly acknowledge and advocate for her sexuality, in June 1965. She acted as the leader for the previously secret organization Forbundet av 1948 between 1966 and 1971, and as its secretary general until 1989.

Early life

Friele was born Karen-Christine Wilhelmsen in

Fana Fana is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, Norway. The borough makes up the southeastern part of the municipality of Bergen. The borough was once part of the historic municipality of Fana which was incorporated into Bergen in ...

Bergen, Norway Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, secon ...

. She attended the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

and was employed from 1958 to 1971 at the information office for insurance. She was briefly married to a childhood friend, Ole Friele, Jr., from 1959 to 1961. She

came out Coming out of the closet, often shortened to coming out, is a metaphor used to describe LGBT people's self-disclosure of their sexual orientation, romantic orientation, or gender identity. Framed and debated as a privacy issue, coming out of ...

as a lesbian, around three years before the repeal (in 1972) of Section 213 of the Norwegian Penal Code; she was one of two openly gay persons in Norway, that were then known to the public.

Career

In Norway, Friele is credited with having influenced the decriminalisation of homosexual acts in 1972 and for declassifying homosexuality as a psychiatric condition in 1978. She and Wenche Lowzow, a noted politician in the

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

, were among the first to formalize their partnership when same-sex unions were allowed in 1993. She wrote several books on gay and human rights, starting in 1972. In 2000, she was appointed a Knight 1st Class of the Order of St. Olav. A bust of her was unveiled in front of the

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

City Hall in 2005, and is now placed at the main branch of the

Oslo Public Library Oslo Public Library (officially called in Norwegian ''Deichman bibliotek'', Deichman Library) is the municipalities of Norway, municipal public library serving Oslo, Norway and is the country's first and largest library. It employs over 300 peopl ...

. In 2005, she was proclaimed the fourth most important

Norwegian of the Century Norwegian of the Century ( no, Århundrets nordmann) was a poll carried out by the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation in 2005, the 100-year anniversary of Norwegian independence. The poll was SMS-based and over 400,000 Norwegians voted over the c ...

in a public vote through

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

. Friele was appointed a '' statsstipendiat'' ("government scholar") in 1989, and lived in the ski town of

Geilo, Norway is a centre in the municipality of Hol in Viken county, Norway. Geilo is primarily a ski resort town, with around 2,500 inhabitants. It is situated in the valley of Hallingdal, 250 km from Oslo and 260 km from Bergen. The Bergen Line ...

Death

She died in her home on 22 November 2021, aged 86. In a comment to the Norwegian public broadcasting company

, The Government Minister for culture and equality

Anette Trettebergstuen Anette Trettebergstuen (born 25 May 1981) is a Norwegian politician representing the Labour Party, who has served as Minister of Culture and Equality in Støre's Cabinet since 2021. She was elected to the Norwegian Parliament from Hedmark in 2 ...

praised Friele as one of the most important figures in the struggle for equality in Norway. Friele was honored with a state funeral on 6 December 2021. The prime minister spoke. Queen Sonja and crown princess Mette-Marit attended the funeral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friele, Karen-Christine 1935 births 2021 deaths People from Bergen Alumni of the University of Cambridge Norwegian human rights activists Norwegian LGBT rights activists Norwegian lesbian writers 20th-century Norwegian LGBT people 21st-century Norwegian LGBT people 20th-century Norwegian women writers 21st-century Norwegian women writers Norwegian women activists Order of Saint Olav