Ladies and gentlemen,

It is with great pleasure that I speak here today on behalf of the Norwegian Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion.

Human rights for gays, lesbians, bisexuals and trans persons – LGBT-persons – are all about dignity, integrity, freedom from violence, non-discrimination and quality of life. These values come under a particular pressure, because they challenge conceptions and positions concerning sexuality and gender, based on religion, traditions or prejudices.

I am proud to be a member of a government that has LGBT-rights as a top priority. Our goal is a society characterised by openness, tolerance and inclusion, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

We know that sexual orientation or gender identity is a very controversial issue in many countries today. In fact it is so controversial that it some times is impossible to even open debate on LGBT in international fora.

Promoting equal rights and non-discrimination of LGBT persons is a priority for Norway.

Norway has played an active role in the negotiations and final outcome in a specific Recommendation which is the world's first comprehensive intergovernmental agreement on the rights of LGBT-persons. (In 2010 member states of the Council of Europe agreed to take on a broad range of measures to combat sexual orientation and gender identity discrimination. These measures are set out in a specific Recommendation).

Norway was also one of the driving forces behind drawing up a resolution on human rights, sexual orientation and gender identity in the United Nations Human Rights Council in June 2011. The main message is to decriminalize gay activities and to implement measures against violence and discrimination. This statement was historical, being the first time LGBT-rights where addressed in the Human Rights Council.

To have legitimacy in our international activities, it is vital to give such work priority on the national level.

Through its role as the coordinating Ministry for all anti-discrimination activities, the Ministry strives to strengthen the efforts to consider the connection between various grounds of discrimination. This effort is also reflected in how the Ministry is organised internally. 

The Norwegian Government has taken a number of steps to safeguard social diversity and to strengthen efforts to combat discrimination against LGBT-persons. In 2009, the Parliament adopted a common marriage act to enable gay couples to marry.

Norway has a LGBT- action plan (“Improving quality of life among lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trans persons”) which contains 64 measures. The plan adopts a cross-sectorial and interdisciplinary approach and involves 8 ministries. An important objective is mainstreaming (i.e. integration) of LGBT-perspectives in all central government sectors and services to the public.

In 2011 Norway established The LGBT Knowledge Centre. The centre is to be an enabler and driving force in the field. The LGBT Knowledge Centre will work on improving our knowledge base, the dissemination of knowledge so that our policies are based on research and good practice.

We are at present preparing a new law giving a general legal protection against discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation and gender identity, in all areas in society, except the private sphere.

Human rights activities must be based on interaction between different actors in society. And therefore I want to stress the value of exchange of knowledge and experiences between countries, scientists, politicians and activists, and of course cultural events such as this exhibition.

With this I open this exhibition and I hope it will contribute to more understanding and less discrimination against LGBT-persons.