Stein Wolff Frydenlund is a 57 year old trans* and human rights activist living in Bergen, in the western part of Norway. It was an honour for Stein to be elected to the TGEU Steering Committee at the Council in Budapest, May 2014.
“I have been engaged in the Norwegian LGB movement since 1994, and in rights for transsexuals and transgender persons since 2000. Now I am the head of the trans political committee of the Norwegian LGBT Association LLH and part of Amnesty International’s international LGBTI network. I think it is important to see the rights of trans people as part of a broader human rights spectrum, as the main goal is to have equal rights for everybody. Human rights are for all, and everybody is unique.
I enjoy music and sing in a choir with mixed voices. When I have spare time I like being outdoors and go hiking in the forests and mountains. As a professional I hold an honours degree in social sciences and work as a lecturer in secondary education at an advanced level.
I have always been a bit different and not at ease being labelled in the narrow two-gendered categories in the mainstream Norwegian culture. Now I feel comfortable as a trans* human being and have come at ease with not fitting into the two-gendered system. If I have to choose, for practical reasons, I prefer the male category, but in my heart of hearts I am trans*.
Growing up in a bi-lingual family gave me different perspectives than the majority. I am not an uncommon, but a not-so-common human being, who is at ease staying with quite common, but interesting cis-persons.”