Eva Jolys foredrag tiltrakk så mange mennesker at auditorium to i teorifagbygget ved UiT var stappfullt. Folk satt seg i trappene og fant stoler her og der for ikke å gå glipp av talen til kvinnen mest kjent for å ha vært kandidat for De Grønne i Frankrike i 2012, og som spilte en rolle i investigasjonen etter bankkrisen på [...]

Mads Gilbert får Kongens fortjenestemedalje for sitt arbeid innen akuttmedisin. Medaljen henger høyt og blant nordmenn som har fått den er den avdøde motstandsmannen Gunnar Sønsteby, billedkunstneren Håkon Bleken og forfatteren Lars Saabye Christensen. Mindre profilerte personer har også mottatt medaljen for alt fra arbeid for bevaring av Bryggen i Bergen, innsats for toleranse og forståelse, innsats for kvinners og [...]

The 15th of April has been a Bloody Monday. During the day, seven different cities in the Baghdad district have been shaken by a flurry of terrorist attacks: car bombs, suicide bombers, and rudimentary bombs that bloodied various parts of the country, including the capital itself. Although the number of victims is not clear, authorities speak of 75 dead and [...]

Gay Pride. Everybody’s heard of it, everybody’s seen it on TV or on the internet. Many people support it; many say it’s a freak show. The summer is coming, and with it many Gay Pride parades all over the world. But is there really a point to it now, especially in countries which have introduced same-sex marriage, adoption of children [...]

Since last Wednesday, the Catholic Church is no longer devoid of a spiritual guide. Around 19:00 on the roof of the Sistine Chapel, the famous white smoke appeard and shortly thereafter was the public announcement: “Habemus Papam”. Up to that time everyone had advanced assumptions about who would be the successor of Benedict XVI, and the names of the favorites [...]

As the new pope was elected, different hopes have risen together with him: reforms, a poorer and more humane church and so on are only the most common. I understand the ones that hope for that. As an Italian, I witnessed the death of a generally beloved pope, John Paul II, and the rise of a colder and probably not-as-beloved, [...]

Ordet “gay” på engelsk betyr opprinnelig “lykkelig”, litt som “gøy” på norsk. “Gay” gikk over til å bety homofil i midten av 1900-tallet — før den tid mente det noe ut av normen, det hedonistiske. Men homofile begynte å omfavne navnet “gay”. Det var hovedsakelig for å skifte oppmerksomhet fra sine triste hverdager, fylt med homofobi. De måtte skjule det [...]

Everyone says they are tolerant. It’s one of the few things people agree on nowadays. But, I have heard many times, that it has gone too far, as if it could be rationed. Isn’t one of the main ideas of tolerance its infinity? Is the sheer fact that it never ends, that we need to tolerate everyone, even if their [...]

Hva kan et land gjøre når det har garantert like rettigheter til alle minoriteter – etniske, religiøse, seksuelle? Er det noe de kan egentlig gjøre? Kanskje. Island er et av de mest tolerante og liberale land i verden. Deres statsminister er lesbisk, ordfører i hovedstaden, Reykjavik, Jón Gnarr deltar alltid i Gay Pride og andre homofile hendelser, homofilt ekteskap og [...]

Homophobia is pure hatred. People hate other people just because they are gay and are not scared to speak up and admit it. But sometimes homophobia is more than just hating other people. Last week there was a truly bizarre case of homophobia in the USA. A man wanted to kill his dog, Elton, just because it was suspected to [...]