Landsforeningen for lesbisk og homofil frigjøring (LLH) (in English: The National Association for Lesbian and Gay Liberation) is a Norwegian "working politically and socially so that those who are gay, lesbian and bisexual can live openly without fear of being ostracized, discriminated, or harassed."
The organization had its early beginnings in 1949, when the Danish Forbundet af 1948 accepted two representatives in Norway. The Norwegian Forbundet av 1948 was formalized as a separate organization in 1952, but the organization worked in secrecy out of concern for criminal prosecution and discrimination. In 1965, a 90-minute radio program presented a balanced perspective on homosexuality, and in 1972 male homosexual acts were decriminalized. In 1977, the Norwegian Psychiatric Association eliminated homosexuality as a psychiatric pathology, and in 1979, the Norwegian department of defense gave gay and lesbian military staff full rights.
Karen-Christine Friele acted as the organization's leader and sole spokesperson during until the late 1970s.
In 1992, LLH was formed as a result of a merger between Forbundet av 1948 and Fellesrådet for homofile organisasjoner i Norge were merged into one organization.
In 2004 the youth organization was sectioned out as its own independent organisation, Queer Youth (in Norwegian: Skeiv Ungdom).
Today the organization has about 2000 members.
Famous quotes containing the words national, association, lesbian, gay and/or liberation:
“In really hard times the rules of the game are altered. The inchoate mass begins to stir. It becomes potent, and when it strikes,... it strikes with incredible emphasis. Those are the rare occasions when a national will emerges from the scattered, specialized, or indifferent blocs of voters who ordinarily elect the politicians. Those are for good or evil the great occasions in a nation’s history.”
—Walter Lippmann (1889–1974)
“An association of men who will not quarrel with one another is a thing which has never yet existed, from the greatest confederacy of nations down to a town meeting or a vestry.”
—Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826)
“When you take a light perspective, it’s easier to step back and relax when your child doesn’t walk until fifteen months, . . . is not interested in playing ball, wants to be a cheerleader, doesn’t want to be a cheerleader, has clothes strewn in the bedroom, has difficulty making friends, hates piano lessons, is awkward and shy, reads books while you are driving through the Grand Canyon, gets caught shoplifting, flunks Spanish, has orange and purple hair, or is lesbian or gay.”
—Charlotte Davis Kasl (20th century)
“The terrifying message of gay liberation is that men are capable of loving their brothers. It should be sweet news to every woman in the world, for, if the capacity of men to love whom they have been taught to treat as competitors and enemies can transcend their education, the world can begin to heal.”
—Jane Rule (b. 1931)
“I don’t think America’s the center of the world anymore. I think African women will lead the way [in] ... women’s liberation ... The African woman, she’s got a country, she’s got the flag, she’s got her own army, got the navy. She doesn’t have a racism problem. She’s not afraid that if she speaks up, her man will say goodbye to her.”
—Faith Ringgold (b. 1934)