Erling Lae (born 1947)

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Throughout his political career, Lae has been open about his sexual orientation and has been active in both DNF-48 and the Open Church Group.

Erling Lae holds a cand.philol. degree from the University of Oslo (1977), with introductory studies in psychology, intermediate studies in Nordic languages, and a major in history. His thesis focused on the rights of Swedish Sámi in Norway and was published as a book by the Nordic Sámi Institute in 2003.

In the interview, Lae talks about growing up in Oslo, how he became involved in politics at an early age, and how he also came to know the queer community. Since the early 1980s, he has been in a relationship with Jens Torstein Olsen, who is also interviewed by the Queer Archive. A joint interview with the two is also available.

Lae became the first openly gay “mayor” in Europe when he was appointed Governing Mayor of Oslo in 2000.

An excerpt from the interview can be seen in the window below, where Lae discusses how prejudice against gay people can easily arise, and how minorities can be turned against one another.

The full interview is available at the Queer Archive (Skeivt arkiv), part of the Special Collections at the University Library of Bergen.

The Queer Archive met Erling Lae in Oslo in January 2018.