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

Free Media Awards for 2025

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The Fritt Ord Foundation and the ZEIT Stiftung Bucerius hereby announce that the Free Media Awards for 2025 will be presented to media outlets and journalists from Ukraine, Georgia, Hungary, Russia, Belarus and Azerbaijan

Greater diversity among journalists results in greater diversity among sources

September 2 2025

A recently published report reveals biases in who is allowed to participate in the public debate. According to a new report from Retriever commissioned by the Fritt Ord Foundation, men who have Nordic names dominate both as sources and journalists in Norwegian media. Women, younger people and people with foreign names are less likely to be included. This is true both as interviewees and as authors of articles. That being said, greater diversity among journalists results in greater diversity among sources.

Eirin Larsen and Hadia Tajik join the Fritt Ord Board

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Eirin Larsen (36) and Hadia Tajik (42) bring valuable experience from journalism, technology, politics and jurisprudence to the Fritt Ord Board.

Making the film «Farouk» – on the geologist that secured Norway its oil

July 1 2025

Geologist Farouk Al-Kasim joined the the Norwegian Petroleum Directorate in 1968, shaping Norwegian petroleum resource management for decades afterwards. Now, documentary film director Halkawt Mustafa and producer Janne Hjeltnes are making a film about Al-Kasim’s life and reflections.
“Farouk tells me something in this film that he has not talked about before, because he has always told the version he feels Norway wanted to hear,” recounts Mustafa, who has Iraqi roots himself.

Read the interview with the director and see the list of grants awarded by Fritt Ord in June 2025.