LGBT magazines and zines in Norway

In 1950 a Norwegian section of the Danish LGBT organisation “Forbundet af 1948” was established in Oslo. In 1953 this section became an independent organisation under the name Det norske forbundet av 1948. The same year, the organisation began to publish their first newsletter for members, named Klubbnytt. Later, the magazines Fritt Fram (1974-1990), Løvetann(1977-2003) and Blikk(1990-) became the most prolific LGBT magazines and journals in Norway. Additionally, a large number of small and large journal projects, zines and hand printed newsletters with varying life spans have been created by various groups and organisations in the LGBT community. Norway has also had a small number of pornographic publications for men who like men. The website Gaysir.no was launched in September 2000, and has become the major LGBT website (44000 users in 2015. A large number considered that the main LGBT organization LLH has 2000 members). There are also several other websites and communication spaces for queer Norwegians online.

The significance of LGBT journals

Until 1972, sex between men was punishable in Norway by law “if public interest demanded it”. §213 of the Norwegian Penal Code was considered a real and serious threat among many homosexual men, and the fear of scandals and/or punishment to some extent caused people to guard their words and actions. It is fair to assume that this fear influenced the development of LGBT printed materials, though no instances of censoring are known.

Press clippings where various forms of queerness is mentioned form a significant part of several of the private archives Skeivt arkiv has collected. It is clear that being mentioned, being recognized in any way, has been important, even where the focus of the clippings has been primarily negative.

Mainstream media angled cases about LGBT issues almost exclusively negatively for a long time, and several of the large newspapers boycotted ads from homosexual organisations, particularly pre-1972.

Because of this, queer/LGBT journals and zines also worked as notice boards and information channels for events and meeting spaces, and as a forum for personal ads. The journals also became an important channel for collectively negotiating identities as well as negotiating homosexuality and other queer identities’ role in public culture. They became an arena where Norwegian queer people could develop common stories about joys and challenges of queer life.

Overview

Here follows an alphabetical overview over the Norwegian queer/LGBT journals, zines, newsletters and magazines we know of so far. In time, more of them will be highlighted so you can click through and read more about each of them.

• Amasonen: avisa for og av lesbiske kvinner
• Animola
• BamseBrakar - medlemsblad fra den norske bamseklubben
• Bang!: seksualpolitisk tidsskrift
• Bergensnytt
• Blikk
• Du og jeg / Du og jeg: om samliv og seksualitet
• elleRs: medlemsposten til LLH Oslo og Akershus
• Fellesrådsavisa
• Feminform
• Frimerket
• Fritt fram
• Gay Bergen
• Gay Norway Bulletin
• Hominor
• Homintern
• H[o]mlå: medlemsavis for homofil og lesbisk bevegelse i Rogaland
• Homsenytt FHO-avis
• Kake
• Kjerringråd: kvinnepolitisk tidsskrift
• Klubbnytt
• Kvinnfo. Tidsskrift utgitt av Kvinnekafeen a/s
• Kæulå, medlemsblad for Homofil Bevegelse.
• Lavendelexpressen
• Lenka
• Lesbinterna feminista
• Lesbisk avis
• Lesbisk internavis
• LF-avisa
• Løvetann: for homofil og lesbisk frigjøring
• Medlemsposten
• Medlemspost for LLH Trondheim lag
• Mulius
• My Friend
• Nick
• Nordgnist
• OSS: norsk homofilt tidsskrift
• Oss i mellom
• Panbladet (Pan, Pan-bladet), Pan: bladet for bøsser og lesber
• Regnbuen 
• Rundskuet
• Smia-info
• Smil, medlemsbladet for SMil Norge 
• Sopelimen 
• Supergutt
• Skråskrift
• Trans-X
• Verdens underGang
• ÅKnytt
• Åpen kirkegruppe