※I have taken a handful of liberties in this translation, so you may wish to compare with a machine translation.
[Article begins with a photo captioned “GETTING EXTRA SUPPORT: Billionaire Katharina K. Andresen and Oslo Pride leader Dan Bjørke hoisting the rainbow flag in the former’s garden on the Bygdøy peninsula, May 29 [last year, or?]. Photo by Helge Mikalsen / VG.” — I’d like to note that Bygdøy is home to the most expensive properties in all of Norway, but are you really all that surprised that a billionaire would be living in an expensive-ass house surrounded by other richies?]
[There’s also a bullet point summary of the article, but I’m not translating it.]
The Christian Democratic Party’s new policy of banning public schools from hoisting rainbow flags has made yet another billionaire see red. Together with Oslo Pride, they[1] are now offering free rainbow flags to schools across the country.
—“An important founding philosophy of our company is that everybody has a right to be who they are, and that diversity enriches us. The pride flag represents this, it’s a symbol of freedom,” the anonymous billionaire says.
VG knows the identity of the billionaire in question. They do not want attention around their person.
The business owner made their decision after reading the VG article about the billionaires Katharina Andresen (age 30) and Isabelle Ringnes (36), who have already donated free flags to 150 primary and secondary schools[2] in partnership with Oslo Pride.
Oslo Pride’s online store ran out of the free flags in under 24 hours. The organization has since then had schools who were too late to join the waiting list.
[There’s two portraits of Andresen and Ringnes, with arrows and their names with captions. The captions explain that the former is a billionaire heiress and owner of the holding company Ferd, and that the latter is an “entrepreneur”[3] and also a billionaire heiress. Color me Absolutely Fucking Shocked that they inherited their wealth, though I should clarify that Andresen is co-owner of Ferd along with her sister and dad.]
The anonymous billionaire now flipping the bill is not related to either Andresen or Ringnes.
—“We applaud Katharina and Isabell’s initiative, but think that all schools that wish to fly the rainbow flag for Pride 2025 should be able to do so without being financially burdened by it,” the anonymous donor says about their decision.
The rainbow flags now being offered to every primary and secondary school in Norway are in “flagpole size”[4] and normally cost 1,100 NOK [~106 USD].
“We’re buying for everybody!”
Oslo Pride’s leader of daily operations Dan Bjørke is thankful for the new billionaire who contacted via their[5] employees.
—“It gives me a great feeling!” Bjørke exclaimed with joy in a phone call with VG on Friday, May 9.
—“We received an inquiry a few days ago with some words of praise for what Katharina and Isabelle have done, and the inquiry continued, ‘But there are some 2,700 schools across Norway. We’re buying for everybody!’”
—“What do you say to those who are critical of billionaire donors and maybe see this as an attempt to influence politics?”
—“It’s still up to the schools whether they want to fly the flag or not, and this billionaire is making things a little easier for those who do want to fly the flag, and I think that’s a great thing!”
[Caption: “APPEAL: Oslo Pride’s leader of daily operations Dan Bjørke recommends schools who want free rainbow flags to register early. ‘If we are to get flags to all the schools by June, they must be quick.’ Photo by Helge Mikalsen / VG”]
Bjørke believes that those who tie the rainbow flag to political positions have misunderstood it.
—“This flag represents an intention. It’s about the type of society we want to see, how we want to treat each other, a wish for a society where people can be themselves in their entirety,” the Oslo Pride leader said.
—“In these uncertain times, it’s more important than ever that we hoist the flag all the way to the top of the flagpole, so that we can be clear about what type of society we want to be. And we’re making it easier for schools to do exactly this.”
—“What sort of impact do you think this might have?”
—“I hope we’ll see rainbow flags everywhere in June. That the flag is hoisted even higher, and we’re even clearer about what sort of society we’re supposed to be.”
[There’s a list of phone numbers and websites for people who need to talk to someone about mental health etc]
“Jumped at it”
During the national congress of the Christian Democratic Party, the party adopted a policy position suggested by its youth wing, to restrict public schools to only being allowed to fly the Norwegian, Sámi and Kven flags.
- This means banning the rainbow flag among others in practice[6].
- The policy has created strong political reactions even within the party.
- The leader of the Association for Forest Finns has pointed out that the suggestion only includes one of Norway’s five national minorities, these being the Forest Finns, Kvens, Jews, and two different Romani subgroups[7].
The Christian Democratic Party’s leader, Dag Inge Ulstein, has defended the policy in a previous interview with VG. This confounds Malene Fimland, the class teacher[8] at Myking school in Alver municipality. The rural school with no more than 63 students has for the past three years commemorated Pride with a rainbow flag owned by its principal, Kristine Glatved-Prahl Lunde.
—“When I saw we could get a free flag, I jumped at the opportunity and ordered one wiithout checking with the principal first,” Fimland explained with a laugh in a phone interview with VG.
—“But I already knew I had her support. We’re a tiny rural school, and Alver has not been accepting of everybody and everything.”
Fimland believes that this is why it’s important to fly the rainbow flag especially in the Norwegian countryside. Myking school has previously only flown the flag for a day or two, but this year the student council resolved that the primary school should fly the rainbow flag for all of Pride month in June.
—“Everybody should feel welcome here.”
“Not hidden away”
Fimland doesn’t buy the argument that it’s enough to just fly the Norwegian, Sámi and Kven flags.
—“We celebrate diversity when we fly the rainbow flag. We’re not sitting all hidden away,” she emphasizes.
—“Teachers shaping young minds must accept students at their school regardless of who they fall in love with or who they identify as. It’s important to signal to the outside world that all types of people have a place here.”
Christian Democratic Party leader Dag Inge Ulstein’s views are to be found further down in this article.
“It scares people”
Oslo Pride’s leader Dan Bjørke doesn’t think anything of the Christian Democrats’ rhetoric, either.
—“It’s some nonsense when Dag Inge Ulstein says that he has so much empathy for us queers and does so much to ensure that we can live well. Why’s he going through all this effort to turn the flag into something political when it isn’t, then?” Bjørke says, and adds,
—“What’s especially bad about this whole affair is that when the Christian Democrats adopt these sorts of policies, it legitimizes those who bully queer people at school. It scares people!”
[Captions: (Photo 1) “ALREADY A FLAG DONOR: ‘Removing the flag from public spaces is not neutrality, it’s an absence of recognition,’ Katharina Andresen said to VG from her home on Bygdøy. She is seen here hoisting the rainbow flag with Oslo Pride leader Dan Bjørke. Photo by Helge Mikalsen / VG” (Photo 2) “SUPPORTS QUEER PEOPLE: Billionaire Katharina Andresen and Oslo Pride leader Dan Bjørke stand together in the fight for LGBTQ±rights. Photo by Helge Mikalsen / VG”]
Bjørke believes that the facts of history paint a different picture of the Christian Democratic Party than its leader’s words do.
—“The party voted against legalizing homosexuality in 1972. They were against laws for civil unions and same-sex marriage. In 2014 they voted against discrimination protections for gender identity and expression,” Bjørke says, and adds,
—“They also voted against abolishing surgical requirements for changing legal gender back in 2016, and now they’re trying to ban Pride flags from schools.”
Bjørke comes with the following message:
—“We can’t let the Christian Democrats take this flag from us. That’s what they’re trying to do: they’re trying to turn it into something it isn’t, and we won’t let them get away with it.”
[Poll: “How do you feel about this anonymous billionaire ensuring that every school in Norway can get a rainbow flag?” (A.) It’s awesome. Hooray for diversity! (B.) Billionaires shouldn’t get involved in this. (C.) The schools can fly the rainbow flag if they want to, but they should pay out of their own pocket for it. (D.) Isn’t the national flag enough? (E.) I have no opinion about this.]
“Disproportionate,” says Christian Democratic Party leader
The Christian Democratic Party’s leader Dag Inge Ulstein has read the critiques of his party’s actions, and in an e-mail to VG via the party’s press officer, does not mince words about his disagreement.
—“When Oslo Pride’s leader makes these conclusions about my views based on things that happened before I was even born, certainly before I became politically involved, then that’s unreasonable in its own way,” Ulstein says.
—“The pride flag means many good things to many people, and that’s all good, but we have to understand that certain people — without any hate or prejudice — do not feel at home under that flag. Oslo Pride’s leader cannot decide how people are going to perceive a flag that surrounds them.”
Ulstein further points out that the Storting has chosen not to fly the rainbow flag “due to its political connotations”.
—“Surveys show that a significant share of Norway’s population agree with the Christian Democrats’ stances on the rainbow flag. Does that mean that these people are against love, diversity or queer rights? No, of course not!” the party leader says.
[Caption: “ALREADY FLYING: The rainbow flag of the billionaire heiress Katharina Andresen at her beach property on Bygdøy. Photo by Helge Mikalsen / VG”]
—“How do you feel about this new billionaire entering the rainbow flag debate, offering free flags to every school in the whole country?”
—“I like the enthusiasm, but I think this type of activism is disproportionate. The Christian Democratic Party’s policy accords with our country’s former flag policy, which enjoyed consensus across more or less all political parties until 2021.”
Ulstein holds firmly his own belief regarding which flag belongs in schoolyards.
—“Really, what is more inclusive than the Norwegian flag? It stands for democracy, freedom, and the rule of law; it stands for unity, tolerance, and liberal values such as the right to love whoever one wants,” he concludes.___
Every time I use a singular they in this translation, keep in mind that the “vibes” are maybe closer to xe, just without the implication that the referent is nonbinary. The word in Norwegian is hen. ↩︎
Primary school is barneskole, “children’s school”; lower secondary school is ungdomsskole, “youth’s school”; upper secondary school is videregående skole, “further-going school”. The former two are mandatory and the last is not. ↩︎
Incidentally, the word in Norwegian is gründer, one of very few Norwegian words to use an umlaut, since it’s a loan from German. The Norwegian word for “entrepreneur” being a German loan is perhaps unsurprising since so much of the Norwegian bourgeoisie can trace its heritage to Germany, including the Andresens. ↩︎
The recommended size of a flag is proportional to the height of its flagpole, so I’m just assuming they mean “too big to be easily carried in your hands unless you’re into yosakoi or something”. ↩︎
In this case the word was sine, a reflexive possessive pronoun, so forget the previous footnote about hen. ↩︎
Footnote from the article: It was previously only legal to hoist the Norwegian and Sámi flags from flagpoles outside public buildings until 2021, when the Flag Law was changed to allow for flags for “arrangements, commemorations or celebrations of interest to the general public”. ↩︎
Norway also has Sámi people as an Indigenous group, which is not the same as a national minority. ↩︎
Kontaktlærer, lit. “contact teacher”: a teacher who regularly meets with the student and their guardians. ↩︎
When the Christian Democrats recently adopted their anti-rainbow-flag policy, and every news publication in the country decided to cover it, I was like, “Jesus Christ, this is gonna be a Whole Thing, isn’t it?” — alas I have been proven right.
You know, news sites could’ve just chosen not to cover the Christian Democrats’ flag policy, right? The Christian Democrats have a total of three seats in the Storting at present — like they aren’t nobodies, I guess, like they’ve had prime ministers and mayors and taken part in coalitions, but they’re also not a super popular and notable party in any case. So when every news site in the country decided to get in on the “Gasp! Oh no they di-unt!” bandwagon wrt the Christian Democrats’ rainbow flag policy, I was just thinking that, yup, the news media is trying to turn rainbow flags at schools into a whole “culture war” debate. And now in this VG article’s own words there is a “rainbow flag debate” — omede-fucking-tou, you bourgeois bastards have manufactured consent yet again, and I bet you feel so damn proud of it, too.
Now, as we see, the news media is giving time to some random billionaires who’ve decided to step in and “be the heroes” in this situation, by spending a fraction of their disgusting amount of wealth, built on centuries-long family histories of banking and lung cancer and whatever else, on buying rainbow flags for schools. This is bourgeois media at its most bourgeois: all a billionaire has to do is spend a bunch of money on something ostentatious, and it immediately warrants a story.
On the one hand this article reinforces pink capitalism, rainbow imperialism and just generally the bourgeois liberal-democratic regime in Norway, and I am especially struck by the repeated assertions that the rainbow flag is “apolitical” — my friend in Marsha P. Johnson, the rainbow flag is MEANT to be political, it’s the flag of a PROTEST MOVEMENT in response to COPS SEXUALLY ASSAULTING TRANS WOMEN!
Then on the other hand this article lends credence to right-reactionism by both-sidesing this debate, by even calling it a debate at all, and in any case presents the struggle for LGBT+ rights as a class collaborationist matter. This may lead some to take out their righteous hatred for billionaires on LGBT+ people, or may lead others to see billionaires with their investments and their real estate portfolios as “friends” of the marginalized in this particular issue — billionaires win in either case, but more so in the former, which I can only assume is why bourgeois media is engaging in this sort of both-sidesing. I also notice how the photo captions in this article repeatedly point out that the billionaires live on Bygdøy with like beach properties and stuff, so that at the same time as you’re thinking about how they’re giving free flags to schools and commemorating Pride, you’re thinking about how they live in these expensive luxury houses.
You know, news sites could’ve just chosen not to cover the Christian Democrats’ flag policy, right? The Christian Democrats have a total of three seats in the Storting at present
Maybe it’s the translation, but the article made it sound like this was an actual government policy being implemented. If this is the position of a few dorks with a tiny foothold in parliament then yeah, who gives a fuck.
I felt like I could’ve found better ways to phrase things to make it extra clear that this is just the party’s policy for what it will do if it comes to power — an individual policy point in its larger party platform — but I wrote the translation a bit hastily, maybe a bit tired, and I figured people would understand from context.
These are the lines where I used the word “policy” in the translation compared to the original Norwegian, with glosses, for reference:
Line 1
KrF-vedtaket om å forby offentlige skoler å flagge med regnbueflagg har fått nok en milliardær til å se rødt.
→ The Christian Democratic Party’s new policy of banning public schools from hoisting rainbow flags has made yet another billionaire see red.
Line 2
Under landsmøtet gikk Kristelig Folkeparti – etter et forslag fra KrFU – inn for at offentlige skoler kun skal ha lov til å flagge med det norske, samiske og kvenske flagget.
→ During the national congress of the Christian Democratic Party, the party adopted a policy position suggested by its youth wing, to restrict public schools to only being allowed to fly the Norwegian, Sámi and Kven flags.
Line 3
Utspillet vekket sterke reaksjoner politisk, også internt i KrF.
→ The policy has created strong political reactions even within the party.
Line 4
Partileder Dag Inge Ulstein har i et tidligere VG-intervju tidligere forsvart vedtaket.
→ The Christian Democratic Party’s leader, Dag Inge Ulstein, has defended the policy in a previous interview with VG.
Line 5
– Det stygge med denne saken er at når KrF fatter slike vedtak, så gir det legitimitet til dem som mobber skeive på skolene.
→ —“What’s especially bad about this whole affair is that when the Christian Democrats adopt these sorts of policies, it legitimizes those who bully queer people at school. […]”
Line 6
KrFs forslag er på linje med den norske flaggpolitikken som det var så godt som tverrpolitisk enighet om fram til 2021.
→ The Christian Democratic Party’s policy accords with our country’s former flag policy, which enjoyed consensus across more or less all political parties until 2021.
