Merete Wigen (born 1957)

Translator's Note: This is a machine-assisted translation completed on May 23, 2025. While care has been taken to maintain accuracy, this translation has not yet undergone human review or validation.

Wigen chose to be visible and open about what was then referred to as gender reassignment, at a time when very few others did the same. She was also the central figure in an episode of Dokument 2 on TV2, which followed the entire process.

Wigen shares memories of her childhood and upbringing in Trondheim. She also speaks about how, from an early age, she felt that she was a girl, not a boy, as she had been assigned at birth. In 1982, she came into contact with FPE-NE and began attending meetings and gatherings in Oslo. Unlike many of the other members, she eventually decided to pursue full gender transition. In January 1992, she contacted Rikshospitalet and was soon invited for an initial consultation. She was very satisfied with the process at the hospital, and by the following summer, her treatment was complete.

In an excerpt from the interview, Wigen recounts how, during the 1980s, she regularly traveled to Oslo for secret meetings with others like herself.

The full interview is available in our reading room. Skeivt Arkiv met with Merete Wigen in Ålesund, October 2024.