Karen-Christine (Kim) Friele

Karen-Christine donerer sitt privatarkiv til UiB. Foto: Eivind Senneset. Opphavsrett: UiB
Karen-Christine donates her private archive to University of Bergen. Photo by Eivind Senneset. Owned by: UiB

Karen-Christine Friele (1935-), widely known as "Kim", has been a central activist in the Norwegian gay rights movement since 1963, when she joined Det Norske Forbundet av 1948. She soon became the elected leader of the organisation, and reamined the leader / general secretary of it until 1989. She played a large role in lifting paragraph 213 of the Norwegian penal code, which made sex between men illegal, in 1972. She was also instrumental in the removal of "homosexuality" as a psychological diagnosis in 1977, and the implementation of anti-discriminatory legislations in 1981. 

In 1993, she and her partner of almost 20 years, Wenche Lowzow, became one of the first couples to enter civil partnership in Norway, after the law she helped champion took effect on August 6th of that year. 

Bibliography

Friele, Karen-Christine. 1975. Fra Undertrykkelse Til Opprør: Om Å Være Homofil - Og Være Glad For Det. Oslo: Gyldendal.

Friele, Karen-Christine. 1980. Homofil Frigjøring - Ditt Ansvar! Oslo: Det Norske forbundet av 1948.

Friele, Karen-Christine. 1985. De Forsvant Bare: Fragmenter Av Homofiles Historie. Oslo: Gyldendal.

Friele, Karen-Christine. 1990. Troll Skal Temmes. Oslo: Scanbok.

Friele, Karen-Christine. 1995. Fangene Med Rosa Trekant: —aldri Mer? Oslo: Emilia.