Torbjørn Urfjell (born 3 November 1977) is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party. Hailing from

Gjerstad Gjerstad is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located in the traditional region of Sørlandet, in the southeastern part of the county, along the border with Telemark county. The administrative centre of the municipality is the villa ...

, Urfjell took his secondary education in

Risør is a municipality in Agder county, Norway. It is located on the Skagerrak coast in the traditional region of Sørlandet. The administrative centre of Risør municipality is the town of Risør. There are many villages in Risør such as Akland, ...

and

Vågsbygd Vågsbygd is a borough and disrict in the city of Kristiansand which lies in the municipality of Kristiansand in Agder county, Norway. It is the largest borough and district in Kristiansand. Until 1965, Vågsbygd was a part of Oddernes municipal ...

, finishing in 1996. He became county leader in Socialist Youth in 1994, and remained a central board member until 2000. He served compulsory civilian national service instead of

compulsory military service Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...

, and in 1998 he was selected as the nationwide spokesperson for the civilian national servicemen. From 1999 to 2005, he was a member of the executive committee of

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

city council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, rural counc ...

. From 1999 to 2003 he was also a member of

Vest-Agder Vest-Agder (; "West Agder") was one of 18 counties (''fylker'') in Norway up until 1 January 2020, when it was merged with Aust-Agder to form Agder county. In 2016, there were 182,701 inhabitants, around 3.5% of the total population of Norway. I ...

county council A county council is the elected administrative body governing an area known as a county. This term has slightly different meanings in different countries. Ireland The county councils created under British rule in 1899 continue to exist in Irela ...

, having been a deputy member from 1995 to 1999. In 2005, Urfjell was a candidate for the

Parliament of Norway 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 ...

, but was not elected.Stortingsvalg 2005: Torbjørn Urfjell (SV)
''

Gaysir Gaysir is a Norwegian website, aimed mainly at gay, bisexual and trans Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of". Used alone, trans may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Trans (festival), a former ...

'', 27 August 2005 However, Urfjell served as a political advisor in the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is the government department responsible for the state's diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral relations affairs as well as for providing support for a country's citizens who are abroad. The entit ...

from 2005 to 2007, during

Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet Stoltenberg's Second Cabinet was the Government of Norway from 17 October 2005 to 16 October 2013. It was a coalition between the Labour Party, the Socialist Left Party and the Centre Party, known as the Red–Green Coalition. On 9 September ...

. In 2008, he was chosen as leader of the party chapter in rural Gjerstad. Urfjell has been a national board member of the

Norwegian National Association for Lesbian and Gay Liberation The Norwegian Organisation for Sexual and Gender Diversity (Norwegian: ''FRI – foreningen for kjønns- og seksualitetsmangfold'') is the oldest, largest and preeminent Norwegian member organization representing the interests of gay, lesbian, bi ...

. In Kristiansand he has been selected for several cultural positions, including chair of Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra and deputy board member of

Kilden Performing Arts Centre Kilden Performing Arts Centre (in Norwegian: ''Kilden teater og konserthus'') is a theater and concert hall on Odderøya in Kristiansand, Norway. It houses Kilden Teater, Kristiansand Symphony Orchestra (KSO) and Opera Sør in a joint projec ...

. In 2012, he was appointed as chair of Fond for lyd og bilde, and also became communications director of the

United Nations Association of Norway The United Nations Association of Norway ( no, FN-sambandet) is an information organisation in Norway. It was established as ''Norsk Samband for de Forente Nasjoner'' ("Norwegian Association for the United Nations"), but later changed its name. It ...

References

1977 births Living people Socialist Left Party (Norway) politicians Politicians from Kristiansand Aust-Agder politicians Gay politicians Norwegian LGBT politicians Norwegian LGBT rights activists {{Norway-politician-1970s-stub