Jan Elisabeth Lindvik (born 1954)

Translator's Note: This is a machine-assisted translation completed on May 28, 2025. While care has been taken to maintain accuracy, this translation has not yet undergone human review or validation.

Lindvik was not open about being transgender for a long time. However, after being interviewed on the NRK radio program Norgesglasset, the segment received significant attention, leading to many more interviews and increased media exposure.

Lindvik was assigned male at birth but also identifies as a woman. In our interview, they speak about growing up and the early search for identity at a time when there was little to no information available about being transgender.

Being a youth in the late 1960s and early 1970s fortunately meant that long hair and bold clothing were more accepted even for boys, which allowed some space for experimentation.

Lindvik later married and had four children, which contributed to a further delay in coming out to those around them.

In an excerpt from the interview, Lindvik recounts how, as a young person, they would dress in women’s clothing and high heels at night and go out. They also reflect on the reactions they received when coming out as an adult.

Lindvik was among those invited to speak at the opening of Skeivt Arkiv in 2015.

In 2016, Jan Elisabeth Lindvik made her debut as a novelist with Mao sin raude kjole (Mao’s Red Dress), a coming-of-age novel set in the 1960s, exploring themes of friendship, love, and belonging.

Today, Lindvik is active in FRI, Oslo-Viken.

The full interview is available in our reading room. Skeivt Arkiv met Jan Elisabeth Lindvik in Oslo in March 2020.