Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg (1936-2020)

Translator's Note: This is a machine-assisted translation completed on May 30, 2025. While care has been taken to maintain accuracy, this translation has not yet undergone human review or validation.

From January 2018, she became the oldest regularly attending deputy representative in the history of the Norwegian Parliament (Storting).

Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg first came into contact with the queer community when she was preparing to teach a group of medical students about sexuality. Finding little available information on the topic of homosexuality, she reached out to Kim Friele and DNF-48. This initiated a long-standing collaboration between the two women, beginning with Friele’s first lecture for students at Vinderen on August 6, 1970.

In 1973, DNF-48 produced the informational booklet Homofili (‘Homosexuality’) for use in sexuality and relationship education in schools. The afterword was written by Nøklebye Heiberg, and the booklet was distributed in 18,000 copies over five months. Nøklebye Heiberg also assisted Friele and the organization by referring distressed DNF-48 members to open-minded psychiatrists and psychologists.

In the spring of 1976, Nøklebye Heiberg read a newspaper article by theology professor Johan B. Hygen, in which he criticized what he called the 'far-reaching demands' of homosexuals. Provoked by the piece, she wrote her first letter to the editor, stating among other things: 'The demand put forward by homosexuals—that one should not be condemned for loving the person one cares about—is that far-reaching? I believe it is a fundamental human right.' Following this, she brought the issue of removing homosexuality as a diagnosis to the Norwegian Psychiatric Association. The diagnosis was officially removed in 1978.

An excerpt from the interview can be viewed below, in which Nøklebye Heiberg recounts how she first came into contact with Kim Friele and later brought her students on 'gay safaris' to the Liberal Party headquarters and eventually to Metropol in Oslo.

The full interview is available in our reading room. It was conducted in Oslo in November 2018.

Astrid Nøklebye Heiberg passed away in April 2020.