Norway has generally embraced Pride events and celebrations, and their characteristic rainbow flags are flying in many more places than normal this June. Not everyone is happy about that, though, given the flags that have been torn down from schools and even private residences.
This is the first year that the Pride flag is waving on Norwegian naval vessels and on many more public and private buildings. Newspaper Aftenposten reported Monday, though, that flags flying on several junior high- and high schools have been stolen and torn down, with one even burned.
“We won’t let ourselves be defeated by this,” Irene Bjerknes Skaland, assistant principal at the Bjøråsen School in Oslo told Aftenposten. “We will keep working to support the values Pride is all about, like building up an inclusive society based on diversity, tolerance, equality and justice for all.”
Sales of Pride flags have otherwise been brisk in Oslo and state broadcaster NRK will, for the first time, cover Pride events this year as a national event. It will air live from Pride Park in downtown Oslo on Friday June 25 with reports not only from parades and events tied to the LGBTI+ movement in the Oslo area but also around the country.
newsinenglish.no staff
