Per Kristian Roghell (born 1951)

Translator's Note: This is a machine-assisted translation completed on June 2, 2025. While care has been taken to maintain accuracy, this translation has not yet undergone human review or validation.

Per Kristian Roghell was born and raised in Hemnesberget, Helgeland. He first became active in a queer community in Bodø between 1975 and 1978. He was later expelled from DNF-48 due to his membership in the Workers’ Communist Party (AKP-ml), and from AKP-ml because of his sexual orientation. In Tromsø, he became a highly influential figure through his long-standing involvement and work with the Homosexual Movement in Tromsø (HBT).

Roghell is a trained nurse and associate professor.

He was also the initiator of the “AIDS Project,” a municipal initiative launched in the early 1980s in response to the epidemic. Later, he played an active role in the merger of DNF-48 and the Homosexual Movement in Tromsø. Roghell also served on the national board of LLH (The National Association for Lesbian and Gay Liberation), where he contributed to the early efforts that would eventually lead to the introduction of the Registered Partnership Act. He also organized the first queer conference in Northern Norway, held in Harstad in January 1993.

In an excerpt from the interview, Roghell recounts the dramatic events of 1986, when a young gay man was found presumed murdered in Tromsø. The entire queer community was deeply affected, and they experienced poor treatment by the police.

The full interview is available in our reading room. We met with Per Kristian Roghell in Tromsø, November 2018.