LGBT Rights In Norway
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LGBT rights in Norway rank among the highest in the world. In 1981,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
became one of the first countries in the world to enact an anti-discrimination law explicitly including
sexual orientation Sexual orientation is an enduring pattern of romantic or sexual attraction (or a combination of these) to persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, or to both sexes or more than one gender. These attractions are generall ...
.
Same-sex marriage Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same Legal sex and gender, sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being ...
, adoption, and assisted insemination treatments for lesbian couples have been legal since 2009. In 2016, Norway became the fourth country in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
to pass a law allowing the change of legal gender for
transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...
people based on self-determination. Much like the other
Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...
, Norway is frequently referred to as one of the world's most LGBT-friendly nations, with high societal acceptance and tolerance of LGBT people. Recent opinion polls have found very high levels of support for same-sex marriage among the Norwegian public.


Legality of same-sex sexual activity

Same-sex sexual activity between men has been legal since 1972. Same-sex acts between women were not penalized in Norway. The age of consent is set at 16 years, regardless of gender and/or sexual orientation. In April 2022, on the 50th anniversary of the legalization, the government of Norway made formal apologies to all victims of the ban on sex between men.


Recognition of same-sex relationships

On 18 November 2004, two MPs from the Socialist Left Party introduced a bill to abolish the existing
registered partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...
law, and make the marriage law gender-neutral. The move was withdrawn and replaced by a request that the cabinet further investigate the issue. The conservative cabinet of that time did not look into the issue. However, the second Stoltenberg Cabinet announced a common, unified marriage act as part of its foundation document, the Soria Moria statement. A public hearing was opened on 16 May 2007. On 29 May 2008, the
Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
reported that two Norwegian opposition parties had come out in favour of the new bill, assuring its passage in the
Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...
. Prior to this, there were some disagreements with members of the current three-party governing coalition on whether the bill had enough votes to pass. On 14 March 2008, the Norwegian Government proposed a marriage bill that would give lesbian and gay couples the same rights as heterosexuals, including religious weddings (if the church so chooses), adoption and assisted pregnancies. The first parliamentary hearing was held on 11 June 2008, where the bill was approved by 84 votes to 41. The new legislation amended the definition of civil marriage to make it gender-neutral. Norway's upper legislative chamber (''Lagtinget'') passed the bill in a 23–17 vote. The
King of Norway The Norwegian monarch is the head of state of Norway, which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system. The Norwegian monarchy can trace its line back to the reign of Harald Fairhair and the previous petty kingdoms ...
granted royal assent thereafter. The law took effect on 1 January 2009. Prior to the gender-neutral marriage law, a registered partnership law had been in effect since 1993. ''Partnerskapsloven'', as it was known in Norwegian, granted many marriage rights to same-sex couples, only without calling it marriage. Since 1991, unregistered same-sex cohabitation has been recognized by the state for the granting of limited rights, such as being considered as next of kin for medical decisions, and in the event of wrongful death of one partner the other partner was entitled to compensation. In 2014, the
Church of Norway The Church of Norway ( nb, Den norske kirke, nn, Den norske kyrkja, se, Norgga girku, sma, Nöörjen gærhkoe) is an evangelical Lutheran denomination of Protestant Christianity and by far the largest Christian church in Norway. The church b ...
's National Council voted down a proposal to perform same-sex marriages in the church. In 2015, it reversed course and voted to allow same-sex marriages to take place in its churches. The decision was ratified at the annual conference on 11 April 2016.


Adoption and family planning

Married and committed same-sex couples are permitted to adopt under Norwegian law. Stepchild adoption has been allowed for registered partners since 2002. Full adoption rights were granted to same-sex couples in 2009. Additionally, lesbian couples have access to
artificial insemination Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatme ...
. Pursuant to the same-sex marriage law, when a woman who is married to or in a stable co-habiting relationship with another woman becomes pregnant through artificial insemination, the other partner will have all the rights and duties of parenthood "from the moment of conception".


Military status

Lesbian, gay and bisexual people can serve openly in the
Armed Forces A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...
. They have had full rights and anti-discrimination protections since 1979. Transgender persons may serve openly as well.


Discrimination protections and hate crime laws

In 1981, Norway became the first country in the world to enact a law to prevent discrimination against LGBT people by amending Paragraph 349a of its Penal Code, prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation in the provision of goods or services and in access to public gatherings. In the same year, Paragraph 135a of the Penal Code was amended to prohibit
hate speech Hate speech is defined by the ''Cambridge Dictionary'' as "public speech that expresses hate or encourages violence towards a person or group based on something such as race, religion, sex, or sexual orientation". Hate speech is "usually thoug ...
on account of sexual orientation. The country has banned discrimination based on sexual orientation in employment since 1998. Norway also has a law prohibiting discrimination based on gender identity and expression since 2013, and is one of the few countries in the world to explicitly protect
intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bina ...
people from discrimination. Section 5 of the ''Act on the Prohibition of Discrimination on the grounds of Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity and Gender Expression'' ( no, Lov om forbud mot diskriminering på grunn av seksuell orientering, kjønnsidentitet og kjønnsuttrykk), enacted in 2013, states as follows:


Bias-motivated violence and speech

According to a 2013 survey entitled "Sexual orientation and living conditions" (''Seksuell orientering og levekår)'' from the
University of Bergen The University of Bergen ( no, Universitetet i Bergen, ) is a research-intensive state university located in Bergen, Norway. As of 2019, the university has over 4,000 employees and 18,000 students. It was established by an act of parliament in 194 ...
, nine out of ten LGBT respondents reported not being exposed to discrimination or harassment at the workplace. In addition, only a small minority stated they had been physically assaulted, and
suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Mental disorders (including depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, personality disorders, anxiety disorders), physical disorders (such as chronic fatigue syndrome), and s ...
among LGBT people has significantly decreased since the 1990s. Nevertheless, homosexual boys reported a six times higher occurrence of
bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, hurtful teasing or threat, to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. One essential prerequisite is the perception (by the bully or by others) of an imba ...
in schools than heterosexual boys. According to the
Oslo Police District Oslo Police District ( Norwegian: ''Oslo politidistrikt'') is the largest police district in Norway. The Police District of Asker og Bærum and Oslo Police District are from January 1, 2016 merged into one, Police Districts Asker and Bærum and Os ...
, 238 bias-motivated crimes had occurred in Oslo in 2018, of which 20 percent related to LGBT status; the remaining relating to ethnicity (57%), religion (17%), disability (3%) or anti-Semitism (3%). The Norwegian Institute of Social Research reported in 2019 that LGBT people were more at risk of experiencing hate speech. 15% of LGBT respondents reported having been the target of personal threats, mostly online, compared to 4% among the general population. In November 2020, the
Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...
amended the country's hate speech law to protect bisexual and transgender people. The law has protected gay and lesbian people from hate speech since 1981.


Transgender rights

On 18 March 2016, the Solberg Government introduced a bill to allow legal gender changes without any form of psychiatric or psychological evaluation, diagnosis or any kind of medical intervention, by people aged at least 16. Minors aged between 6 and 16 may transition with parental consent. The bill was approved by a vote of 79–13 by
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
on 6 June. It was promulgated on 17 June and took effect on 1 July 2016. One month after the law took effect, 190 people had already applied to change their gender.


Healthcare

Access to gender affirming healthcare in Norway still requires a psychiatric diagnosis, at which point the patient is referred to the National Treatment Center for Transsexualism at Oslo University Hospital. Treatment is not offered to
nonbinary Non-binary and genderqueer are umbrella terms for gender identities that are not solely male or femaleidentities that are outside the gender binary. Non-binary identities fall under the transgender umbrella, since non-binary people typicall ...
patients. Only a quarter of referred patients are allowed access to gender-affirming healthcare, with those disqualified having no alternative options. In 2023, one of the leading transgender healthcare providers in Norway was stripped of their medical license over, ostensibly, their advocacy in favor of trans rights. In March 2023, the Norwegian Healthcare Investigation Board issued recommendations that puberty blockers and hormone therapy for trans adolescents be banned outside of research settings, citing concerns over increases in the number of people seeking such treatment, as well as concerns regarding increased rates of neurodivergence, including
ADHD Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterised by excessive amounts of inattention, hyperactivity, and impulsivity that are pervasive, impairing in multiple contexts, and otherwise age-inapp ...
and ASD, among those seeking such care.


Intersex rights

Intersex Intersex people are individuals born with any of several sex characteristics including chromosome patterns, gonads, or genitals that, according to the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, "do not fit typical bina ...
infants in Norway may undergo medical interventions to have their sex characteristics altered. Human rights groups increasingly consider these surgeries unnecessary and, they argue, should only be performed if the applicant consents to the operation. A 2019 survey from the
Oslo University Hospital Oslo University Hospital ( no, Oslo universitetssykehus; OUS) is a university hospital in Oslo, Norway. With over 24,000 employees it is the largest hospital organization in Europe. It is affiliated with the Faculty of Medicine of the University ...
showed that two out of three medical professionals were willing to perform such surgeries, and parents were overall supportive of the move. In March 2019, the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs published two reports, recommending postponing such medical interventions on intersex infants until they are able to consent.


Conversion therapy

In 2000, the Norwegian Psychiatric Association overwhelmingly voted for the position statement that "homosexuality is no disorder or illness, and can therefore not be subject to treatment. A 'treatment' with the only aim of changing sexual orientation from homosexual to heterosexual must be regarded as ethical malpractice, and should have no place in the health system". As of December 2019, the
Storting The Storting ( no, Stortinget ) (lit. the Great Thing) is the supreme legislature of Norway, established in 1814 by the Constitution of Norway. It is located in Oslo. The unicameral parliament has 169 members and is elected every four years bas ...
is considering a ban on conversion therapy.


Health and blood donation

In Norway, as in many other countries,
men who have sex with men Men who have sex with men (MSM) are male persons who engage in sexual activity with members of the same sex. The term was created in the 1990s by epidemiology, epidemiologists to study the spread of disease among all men who have sex with men, r ...
(MSM) were previously not allowed to donate blood. In June 2016, the Norwegian Directorate for Health and Social Affairs announced it would make an end to this ban, and implement a 12-month deferral period instead, whereby MSM applicants would be permitted to donate provided they have not had sex in a year. The new 1 year deferral period was implemented on 1 June 2017. In October 2016,
Minister of Health and Care Services The Minister of Health and Care Services ( no, Helse- og omsorgsministeren) is a councilor of state and chief of the Norway's Ministry of Health and Care Services. Since 14 October 2021 the position has been held by Ingvild Kjerkol of the Labour ...
Bent Høie Bent Høie (born 4 May 1971) is a Norwegian politician from the Conservative Party who served as county governor of Rogaland since 2021. He previously served as Minister of Health and Care Services from 2013 to 2021, and a member of the Storti ...
made the announcement that the HIV-prevention drug,
PrEP PowerPC Reference Platform (PReP) was a standard system architecture for PowerPC-based computer systems (as well as a reference implementation) developed at the same time as the PowerPC processor architecture. Published by IBM in 1994, it allo ...
, would be offered free of charge as part of Norway's health care system.


Living conditions

Norway is very gay-friendly. The most open and inclusive community can be found in the capital,
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 ...
, where many gay-friendly events and venues are located including the Raballder Sports Cup and the Oslo Pride Festival. Other events include the Scandinavian Ski Pride held in
Hemsedal Hemsedal is a municipality in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the traditional region of Hallingdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Trøym. Hemsedal lies on the Norwegian National Road 52 (Rv 52). Hemsedal ...
, Trondheim Pride held in
Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...
and Bergen Pride (''Regnbuedagene'') in
Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...
. 45,000 people participated in the 2019 edition of Oslo Pride, and a further 250,000 attended and watched the event, according to the organisers. Several LGBT associations exist throughout the country, including the Association for Gender and Sexuality Diversity (''Foreningen for kjønns- og seksualitetsmangfold''), established in 1950 as the first gay organisation in Norway, Queer Youth (''Skeiv Ungdom''), Gay & Lesbian Health Norway, the Centre for Equality (''Likestillingssenteret'') and the Transgender Association (''Forbundet for Transpersoner''), among others. These groups variously offer helplines and counselling to LGBT youth, promote health and HIV prevention and advocate for the legal rights of same-sex couples and transgender individuals. In the far north of Norway,
Sápmi Pride Sápmi Pride is a pride festival with Sápmi focus arranged annually since 2014. History The festival, organised by Queering Sápmi, took place for the first time in 2014 in Kiruna, in Lapland. The festival, which went on for four days, fea ...
is held annually, changing locations between
Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...
,
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
and Norway every year. In March 2019, Norway was named the fourth best LGBT-friendly travel destination in the world, tied with
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
,
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
and Finland. The legal situation for same-sex couples is among the best in the world. Norway was the second country, after neighbouring
Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...
, to offer registered partnerships to couples with many of the rights of marriage. In 2009, Norway became the sixth country in the world to legalise same-sex marriage, after the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
,
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...
. Legislation concerning adoption, gender changes for transgender people and anti-discrimination have all been amended in the past decades to include and apply to LGBT people and couples. In 2015, media reported that there were calls to have a taxi station moved from near the entrance to Oslo's oldest gay pub. Several Muslims claimed that pictures had been taken of them entering the pub by taxi drivers parked at the station; some of these pictures were later distributed widely within Muslim communities. On 1 September 2016, King
Harald V of Norway Harald V ( no, Harald den femte, ; born 21 February 1937) is King of Norway. He acceded to the throne on 17 January 1991. Harald was the third child and only son of King Olav V of Norway and Princess Märtha of Sweden. He was second in the lin ...
delivered an impassioned speech in favor of LGBT rights. By 7 September, his speech had received nearly 80,000 likes on
Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
and viewed more than three million times. A part of his speech read as follows: In July 2020, the Norwegian Government announced that it would give LGBT refugees, alongside vulnerable women and children, priority. The rules only apply for the transfer of refugees from one asylum country to another for permanent resettlement.


Public opinion

Five different polls conducted by Gallup Europe, Sentio, Synovate MMI, Norstat and
YouGov YouGov is a British international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm, headquartered in the UK, with operations in Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific. In 2007, it acquired US company Polimetrix, and sinc ...
in 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2012 and 2013 concluded that 61%, 63%, 66%, 58%, 70% and 78%, respectively, of the Norwegian population supported gender-neutral marriage laws. In May 2015,
PlanetRomeo Romeo (until 2021 PlanetRomeo) is a social network for gay, bisexual, queer and transgender people. The site was started as a hobby and was called GayRomeo in October 2002 by Planetromeo GmbH in Berlin, Germany. Initially only available in Germ ...
, an LGBT social network, published its first Gay Happiness Index (GHI). Gay men from over 120 countries were asked about how they feel about society's view on homosexuality, how do they experience the way they are treated by other people and how satisfied are they with their lives. Norway was ranked second, just above Denmark and below Iceland, with a GHI score of 77. The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir) found that the proportion of people with hostile attitudes towards LGBT+ people has been steadily decreasing; in 2017 7.8% expressed hostile attitudes towards gay people while 11% expressed hostile attitudes towards transgender people.


Transphobia

In the 2020s some tabloid newspapers have been criticized for regularly publishing
transphobic Transphobia is a collection of ideas and phenomena that encompass a range of negative attitudes, feelings, or actions towards transgender people or transness in general. Transphobia can include fear, aversion, hatred, violence or anger tow ...
content; for example journalism expert Jon Martin Larsen has criticized the newspaper ''
Klassekampen ''Klassekampen'' ( en, The Class Struggle) is a Norwegian daily newspaper. It describes itself as "the newspaper of the Left." The paper's net circulation is 34,000 (2021), and it has around 111,000 daily readers on paper (160,000 on Saturdays). ...
'' for contributing to "incitement and hatred against transgender people." 2021 also saw the formation of anti-transgender groups such as Kvinneaktivistene and a Norwegian branch of
Women's Declaration International The Women's Declaration International (WDI), formerly the Women's Human Rights Campaign (WHRC), is an advocacy group founded in the United Kingdom with presence in many other countries. The group is known for publishing a declaration on "sex-based ...
(formerly WHRC).


Summary table


See also

Criminalization of homosexuality Criminalization of homosexuality is the classification of some or all sexual acts between men, and less frequently between women, as a criminal offense. Most of the time, such laws are unenforced with regard to consensual same-sex conduct, but ...
*
Same-sex marriage in Norway Same-sex marriage in Norway has been legal since 1 January 2009 when a gender-neutral marriage law came into force after being passed by the Storting in June 2008. Norway was the first Scandinavian country, the fourth in Europe, and the sixth cou ...
*
Politics of Norway The politics of Norway take place in the framework of a parliamentary, representative democratic constitutional monarchy. Executive power is exercised by the Council of State, the cabinet, led by the prime minister of Norway. Legislative power i ...
*
LGBT rights in Europe Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights are widely diverse in Europe per country. Nineteen out of the 33 countries that have legalised same-sex marriage worldwide are situated in Europe. A further eleven European countries have leg ...
*
Gaysir Gaysir is a Norwegian website, aimed mainly at gay, bisexual and trans people. Gaysir was one of Norway's first web communities, and, in 2007, had approximately 50 000 unique visitors per week. The website is owned and run by the private aksjes ...
* National Association for Lesbians, Gays, Bisexuals and Transgender People


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lgbt Rights in Norway