Torstein Dahle (born 1947)

Translator's Note: This is a machine-assisted translation completed on July 28, 2025. While care has been taken to maintain accuracy, this translation has not yet undergone human review or validation. Please note that specialized terms, historical references, and nuanced content may benefit from expert review.

Dahle has been openly gay for several decades and has been highly visible in the media and as a politician.

The interview was conducted as Dahle was turning 70. He shares stories from his upbringing and how it took time before he began to understand his own feelings about being gay. An interview published in Bergens Tidende featuring two gay men came to have a profound impact on him.

He goes on to describe a long and very active life marked by strong engagement in LGBTQ issues. Dahle was at the center of the intense disagreements and conflicts within DNF-48 in the mid-1970s. He was also one of the founders and early leaders of Homofil bevegelse Bergen (HBB), established in 1978.

A short excerpt from the interview can be viewed in the video window below, where Dahle recounts the conflict within DNF-48 that led to several expulsions in 1978, including his own.

The full life history interview is available at Skeivt arkiv, part of the Special Collections at the University Library of Bergen.

Torstein Dahle was interviewed in Bergen, February 2017.