It all started with 'Mother in Need.'

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This article was first published on skeivtarkiv.no 2020.05.14.

When did the first homosexual subculture emerge in Norway, and who was really the first chairman of the Norwegian gay movement? This is the first part of a series about the pioneer Erling Næss and his era. Activist and journalist Svein Skeid is behind the series, which is based on unique interview material. 

In connection with the 70th anniversary of the Norwegian Association of 1948 (DNF-48) on May 20, 2020, the complete story of Erling Næss is presented here for the first time, which deviates somewhat from the previously accepted truths... including who was the first chairman of DNF-48.

The Norwegian section of the Danish Association of 1948 was founded on May 20, 1950, at Bislett Hospice in Dalsbergstien 21 in Oslo, in a building owned by Erling Næss (1895-1992), alias "Mother in Need".

Although few know his name, the 54-year-old Næss may have had more than one finger in the pie regarding the establishment of the Association.

In this article, I ask whether Erling Næss was one of several network builders who quietly laid the foundation for the establishment of an emerging Norwegian gay movement.

The Westerner had risen from extreme poverty to owning 12 buildings. He earned his nickname for his efforts to help people who had gone astray in life.

There are different versions of which apartment the foundation took place in. Likewise, how the founding meeting came about and who was elected as the first chairman of the provisional board.

Until now, it has been accepted that the advertising man Rolf Løvaas was the first chairman of the Norwegian branch of the Association of 1948.

This is in accordance with a post by Løvaas himself in DNF-48's magazine Oss imellom January-April 1959, as well as Hans W. Kristiansen's book "Masks and Resistance" (Kristiansen 2008, 140).

A historical article in Blikk June 2000, with Axel Axgil and Arne Heli as sources, claims, however, that Rolf Løvaas was first elected chairman five months later, in October 1950, again at Bislett Hospice.

But who then led the association for the first five months?

As a writer for Fritt Fram, the predecessor of today's Blikk, I had the pleasure of interviewing the 94-year-old Erling Næss in 1990 in connection with the gay movement's 40th anniversary.

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Norway's First "Gay House"

Just two years before his death, he was both physically and mentally healthy. With his good memory, he became a goldmine of information about gay life in Kristiania before World War I when he moved from Western Norway to Kristiania.

The hospice in Dalsbergstien was not a random meeting place for the establishment of DNF-48, but rather an institution for a generation, where both Norwegian and foreign homosexuals made pilgrimages for 28 years.

And "hospice" at that time was something other than a worn-out shelter for drug users.

On gay historical city walks in Oslo, I have conveyed how Bislett Hospice almost functioned as an unofficial gay house since Erling Næss bought the property in 1930.

Homosexuals did not have many places to go, so they wandered from toilet to toilet. And it could be cold! At Erling's place, there was always a warm welcome and a place to stay, both late and early, for a cup of coffee. And if you were lucky, you might also get "something extra."

After Erling sold Bislett Hospice in 1958, he eventually moved to Bjerregaardsgate 17, where I interviewed him on May 26, 1990. He sat right across from me, took my hands, and almost flirted with me. I felt that I was literally holding a hundred years of gay history in my hands.

Birthday Party Became DNF-48

Unlike other sources, Erling Næss presents the founding of the Association in 1950 almost as a coincidence.

Erling explains:

I had family in Denmark that I visited frequently. In 1948, the Danish Association was formed with Axel Lundahl Madsen (Axel Axgil) as chairman. I had the pleasure of attending a meeting on Funen at Easter 1950. Compared to Norway, Denmark seemed like a paradise. I slept in the room next to where H.C. Andersen was born. Just on the boat out, we were 80-90 people. In addition, there were several small boats. I asked a gay man on the boat: "Is the whole of Denmark gay?"

Erling Næss met Danish Axel Lundahl Madsen several times in Denmark, and Lundahl Madsen visited Næss in Oslo and stayed at Bislett Hospice.

Erling continues:

Back in Oslo, we were going to celebrate a birthday in my apartment on May 20 with Axel Lundahl Madsen present. I, of course, told about my experiences in Denmark: "Imagine if we could form such an association here at home." Yes, everyone agreed. At 8 PM, we met at my place, and by 1-1:30 AM, the Norwegian branch of the association was a fact.

A provisional board with a treasurer and chairman was elected. And according to himself, Erling Næss was the first chairman for a period!

Erling elaborates:

I was the chairman at first. In the fall, I went back to Denmark to get more information. We were a branch of the Danish Association. I saw that the leadership role was very demanding and responsible, and I gave it up after about six months.

We had many hard battles back then. Meetings had to be arranged under a false name. To the authorities, we felt like hunted criminals. To camouflage the activities, we used the name "Association for City and Country."

There was a break in the association's work for a while. One of the board members, who was an alcoholic, squandered a lot of money. However, no one claimed it afterward.

The magazine Blikk writes in June 2000:

When Rolf Løvaas left Bislett Hospice that evening (May 20, 1950), he was not yet the leader of the Norwegian Association of 1948. A discussion had arisen between Bjørn Hansen and Rolf Løvaas. Hansen, the Danes' contact person and the intended leader of the Norwegian branch, had advocated for a social association. Løvaas opposed this. This led to Hansen not being elected as leader. (...) It would be exactly five months before the Norwegian Association of 1948 formally took shape. (...) Everything was now in place for Løvaas to become the leader. The final meeting was held on October 20, 1950, also at Bislett Hospice. Løvaas was formally Norway's first gay leader, and the further course of work was set out (Wiig and Walderhaug 2000, 24).

During Oslo Pride in 1990, Erling Næss was personally honored by the then leader of DNF-48, Kjell Erik Øie, at the Edderkoppen Theater.

Based on this, I ask whether this part of Norwegian gay history needs to be rewritten or explored further?

Through his warm shelter for the city's unwanted elements, Næss contributed over decades to a network that eventually became DNF-48.

The question is whether Erling Næss played a driving role in the establishment of DNF-48 and whether he was the association's first chairman in a provisional board?

Read more about Erling Næss, or "Mother in Need" as he was called, in part 2 of this series.

Apropos:

One might ask whether the Association of 1948 would have been established in 1950 at all if it were not for the networks that had been spun from urinals and parks in the preceding decades, writes Hans W. Kristiansen in his doctoral dissertation "The Love Carousel" from 2003.

Bråten, Beret. 2004. "The Love Carousel." Gender Research.no, January 29, 2004.

National Antiquarian Nils Marstein stated at the preservation of the urinal "The Love Carousel" in Stensparken in Oslo in 2009 that "Public restrooms were significant as a starting point for social network formation. This has been one of several prerequisites for the emergence of an organized gay movement."