New stories about homosexuals: Gay Kids and Patrik 1.5

May 22 2009

In tandem with the positive turn in the struggle for gay and lesbian rights and life situations in recent years, new stories are emerging. Where it used to be common to talk about the toil, anxiety and pain of growing up as a homosexual or as the child of homosexual parents – today’s homosexual family stories are characterised by more joy and creativity. The picture book and exhibition Gay Kids and the romantic comedy Patrik 1.5 are good examples of the new storytelling tradition.

Fritt Ord, Gay and Lesbian Health Norway and the Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, invites the public to a seminar and film screening on Wednesday, 27 May 2009, from 5 to 8 p.m., at Vika Cinema, Ruseløkkeveien 14, Oslo
Lill-Ann Chepstow-Lusty, photographer and author
Bera Ulstein Moseng, author and researcher/senior adviser at Gay and Lesbian Health Norway
Rolf Martin Angeltvedt, author and and director of Gay and Lesbian Health Norway
Ella Lemhagen, screenwriter and film director

Moderator: Ann-Helén Bay, Political Scientist and Director, Institute for Social Research

Registration: gaykids@fritt-ord.no

Invitation (pdf)

Fritt Ord provided NOK 200 000 in support for the Gay Kids Project in 2007.

News

Call for nominations: Free Media Awards 2025

March 14 2025

In collaboration with the ZEIT STIFTUNG BUCERIUS of Hamburg, the Fritt Ord Foundation has allocated the Free Media Awards annually since 2004 to Eastern European journalists and media that defy every obstacle to tirelessly ensure independent press coverage. Russia’s war against Ukraine and the subsequent wave of disinformation clearly demonstrates the need for independent reporting in the region. Journalist, editorial teams and media companies in and from Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Ukraine and Hungary who make a contribution to press freedom through their investigative, independent reporting can be nominated for the Free Media Awards.

Civitates' Tech & Democracy open call

March 6 2025

Civitates – The European Democracy Fund is a pooled philanthropic fund that was set up in 2018 for the sole purpose of addressing democratic decline and closing civic space in Europe. The case for confronting these threats is growing increasingly urgent. Fritt Ord Foundation is one of the initiators and partners of Civitates.

Civitates has launched its Tech and Democracy open call to support organisations working to ensure safer, more inclusive online spaces (social media platforms, search engines etc.) by improving the enforcement of EU tech regulations at the national level.

This open call offers a unique opportunity to strengthen civil society’s role in holding the tech sector accountable, with a focus on key EU regulations such as the Digital Services Act, GDPR, AI Act or the European Media Freedom Act to name a few.

Norwegians increasingly more positive to computer games

March 5 2025

Norwegians are increasingly more positive to accepting computer games as culture

About 17 per cent have developed a more favourable view of computer games over the past year. Six of ten play computer games, and one of three plays computer games weekly. At the same time, computer games are ranked as having lower status than books and music, for example.
“Computer games deserve more attention and discussion”, contends Joakim Lie of Fritt Ord.

– Computer games are also art

March 4 2025

“The problem with far too many media reports about computer games is that they start begin with sentences like: ‘computer games have come a long way since Pac-Man’,” sighs American computer game critic Jacob Geller.

“Let us first simply agree that computer games are indeed an art form and an expression of culture, and then let us examine the works as part of the history of art and culture.