Gay Norwegian filmmaker, Tonje Gjevjon, is facing up to three years in prison for speaking out against a local transgender activist that identifies as a lesbian. Gjevjon’s claims that Christine Jentoft, who transitioned from being a man and now identifies as a woman, can’t be lesbian. This has led to Gjevjon becoming the subject of a criminal investigation as hate speech against transgender people was outlawed in Norway in 2020.
Gjevjon made her claims via Facebook in October by posting “it is just as impossible for men to become lesbians as it is for men to become pregnant.” She also added that she believes that “men are men regardless of their sexual fetishes.”
The comments have led Norwegian authorities to investigate the filmmaker as transphobic hate speech was outlawed in 2020. Gjevjon faces a maximum of three years in prison for her comments. The law, which has protected gay & lesbian Norweigans since 1981, was expanded to include trans people two years ago.
The filmmaker has since claimed that her statements were made to draw attention to Norway’s amended hate speech law. In an essay that she authored for Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen, Gjevjon wrote, ‘I have stated that women are female, that lesbians do not have penises, that children should not be responsible for decisions they do not have the capacity to understand the scope of, and that no-platforming is harmful to democracy.” Gjevjon also claimed that she has been “canceled” for these views “several times.” Adding that she “was not prepared for the extent of how queer organizations, politicians and activists would demonize a lesbian artist who was not in step.”