Arild Mæhle Waksvik (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. 

Mæhle Waksvik was employed for a period at Metropol in Oslo during the 1970s.

In the interview, Mæhle Waksvik recounts how he became involved in what was then simply referred to as "the gay cause" as early as 1973. He came out publicly in the Sunnmøre Arbeideravis in June of that year, at the age of only 15. During his military service in 1977, he was assaulted due to his sexual orientation. Subsequently, his military classification was downgraded from Combatant A to Fit for Work B, accompanied by a functional code two, which denoted: mentally ill, suffers from homosexuality.

In 1979, he established a local chapter of DNF-48 in Ålesund and remained a central figure in the community for many years thereafter. He was also politically active with the Liberal Party (Venstre) in the city. In 2000, he and his partner, Geir Arve Sandsether, became the first couple residing in Ålesund to enter into a registered partnership there.

In an excerpt from the interview, Mæhle Waksvik describes his first encounter with Metropol. Between 1974 and 1989, the venue was perhaps the most well-known queer nightclub in Norway.

The full interview is available in our reading room. Skeivt arkiv met with Arild Mæhle Waksvik in Ålesund in October 2024.