Goal 1:
Improve the quality of life of queer people

Sub-goals:

• Improve queer people's mental health
• Strengthen voluntary organisations that promote gender and sexual diversity
• Long-term and systematic work to promote expertise in gender and sexual diversity in the public sector to ensure equitable public services

Action 1
Increase funding for voluntary organisations

The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir) manages a grant scheme that aims to strengthen gender and sexual diversity in Norway and help improve living conditions and quality of life for queer people. In 2023, the Government will increase the grant scheme for organisations' work on gender and sexual diversity.

Action 2
Create a grant scheme for better mental health

A separate grant scheme will be established to strengthen efforts to improve the mental health of queer people, among other things aimed at user and next-of-kin organisations in the field of mental health and substance abuse.

Action 3
Continue the introduction of inclusive language in the health and care services and the dental health service

The health administration will continue its work to update information, guidelines and other normative products for services and the population at large on the websites Helsenorge.no and Helfo, using inclusive language about gender and sexual diversity.

Action 4
Gender and sexual diversity must be incorporated in the work for equitable public services

In its work for equitable public services, the Government will ensure that consideration is given to gender and sexual diversity.

Action 5
Have a regular dialogue with KS about the municipalities' equality work for queer people

In the bilateral consultation meeting with the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS), the Minister of Culture and Equality will raise the issue of how the state and the municipal sector can work together to promote equality in society, including for queer people.

Action 6
Strengthen the municipalities' equality work as an employer

In the Minister of Culture and Equality's bilateral consultation meeting with the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities, the municipalities' efforts to promote equality and non-discrimination as an employer will be given particular focus.

Action 7
Assess the need for schools to increase their expertise in gender and sexual diversity

The Government will consider the need for teachers to increase their expertise in LGBT+ issues and, if relevant, implement competence-raising measures in this area.

Action 8
Have an explicit gender perspective in the white paper on programmes of professional study in the higher education sector

In consultation with the higher education sector, the Government will consider measures that can contribute to students achieving the learning outcomes described in the national curricula for the programmes and national guidelines in the field. The white paper submitted to the Norwegian parliament, the Storting, on the programmes of professional study in the higher education sector will incorporate an explicit gender and diversity perspective in connection with recruitment to the programmes.

Action 9
Ensure that the website ung.no provides good information

The Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir) and the Norwegian Directorate of Health will ensure that the online resource ung.no provides information about sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression and sex characteristics for children and young people in Norway, as well as about queer people's sexual and mental health.

Action 10
Create a digital 'rainbow portal'

The Government will create a website that gathers available, competence-raising resources on gender and sexual diversity for municipalities and county authorities as employers and public authorities, as well as for other providers of public services at the local and regional level.

Action 11
Strengthen the competence of the police

There is a need to strengthen competence and knowledge about gender and sexual diversity in both the police's internal work and the external work that addresses how the police solve their tasks and how they meet citizens in different arenas. In dialogue and cooperation with LGBT+ organisations, the police will implement competence-raising measures (e.g. webinars, courses, e-learning) that will be made available to police staff.