Tonje Gjevjon, a Norwegian actress, faces three years in prison on suspicion of criminal hate speech for statements against transgender people and their sexual preferences. Authorities informed Gjevjon on November 17 that she was under investigation for her Facebook comments against prominent Norwegian campaigner Christine Jentoft. According to the actress, a member of the LGBTQ+ community, men cannot become “lesbians,” just as men cannot bear children:
“It’s just as difficult for a man to become a lesbian as for a man to be pregnant. Regardless of their sexual preferences, men are still men.”
Gjevjon’s comments, according to The New York Post, were a jab at Jentoft, who identifies herself as a transgender woman and often identifies herself as a lesbian mother. In response to the investigation, Gjevjon said that she wrote her Facebook comment with the aim of highlighting Norway’s hate speech regulations. Her comments appear to be under scrutiny given the 2020 revision to the country’s criminal law that includes “gender identity and gender expression” as categories that are not protected from hate speech. People convicted of hate speech in Norway can be fined or jailed for up to one year for privacy statements and up to three years for public comments.
Tonje Gjevjon’s previous views on gender identity
Tonje Gjevjon made headlines earlier this year after questioning Norway’s Minister of Culture and Reality, Anette Trettebergstuen, about gender identity and biosexuality. Then she wondered:
“Will the minister for equality act to protect the human rights of lesbian women, by making it clear that no lesbian has p*nise, that men cannot be lesbians regardless of their gender identity, and by cleaning up the mess left by the previous government’s harmful gender policies?”
Trettebergstuen answered Gjevjon’s question by saying:
“I do not accept a worldview in which only two biological sex relationships are understood as sex. Gender identity is also important.”
Tonje Gjevjon previously told Norwegian newspaper Klassekampen that she had previously been “cancelled” for her views on gender identity:
“I have stated that women are women, that lesbians have no status, that minors should not be held accountable for choices they are incapable of understanding, and that being groundless is harmful to democracy. I have been canceled many times because of these beliefs.”
She also said that, despite being a lesbian artist, she was “demonic” by gay groups, politicians and activists and was forced out of the art scene because of her beliefs. Gjevjon is said to have accused transgender activists of “contacting people” she works with to describe her as “obnoxious” and warn them not to associate with her.
All you need to know about Tonje Gjevjon
Tonje Gjevjon is a visual artist, actor and filmmaker from Norway. She is also the lead singer of The Hungry Hearts Performance Band. Before debuting her video and photographic work at the 2005 Fall Exhibition, the artist studied at the Oslo School of Drawing and Painting, the Strykejernet School of Art and the Bergen Academy of Fine Arts. Gjevjon came to prominence as the director of The Hungry Hearts Performance in 2007. She has directed films such as In the Closet, Behind the Curtain, and Dunno Y 2…Life Is A Moment.
She was also chair of the board of directors of the Akershus Center for the Arts from 2006 to 2011, and president of Visual Artists in Oslo and Akershus from 2009 to 2011. Tonje Gjevjon has often caused controversy for her opposition to transgender women’s rights, saying doing so will alleviate women’s wars.
Categories: Biography
Source: vothisaucamau.edu.vn
