Gaysir
Encyclopedia
Gaysir is a Norwegian
website, aimed mainly at gay
and bisexual men and women. Gaysir was one of Norway's first web communities
, and has approximately 50 000 unique visitors per week.
The website is owned and run by the private aksjeselskap
Gaysir AS. Among the board of directors are the Oslo-politician Håkon Haugli
(Oslo bystyre), who is the leader of the Norwegian Gay and Lesbian Social Democrats (GALSD) in Arbeiderpartiet.
Gaysir was given the Æresprisen (en.
Award of Honor) from Oslo LLH
during the annual event Skeive dager in central Oslo in 2006. The reason given was that the website had made a safe and including network for gays and lesbians, and contributed to gay identity building.
The website has been the subject of several controversies.
In November 2007, Gaysir AS had six full-time employees.
among openly gays and lesbians in Norway. The winner was the chairman of the city council of Oslo, Erling Lae
and the handball
player Gro Hammerseng
.
The power elite (no.
Makttoppen) was also selected by the website in 2007, also then with Erling Lae topping the selection – this time accompanied by the then newly employed chief editor of Dagbladet
, Anne Aasheim.
in the Pentecostal
congregation Oslokirken, said to the Christian
newspaper Norge IDAG that he recommended Christians to use the selections (Makttoppen) as a target for prayer to get the people in the selection removed from their professions. This call for a prayer campaign received attention from a number of media sources, including Dagbladet
.
Trondheim municipality's webportal (2007): In July 2007 there was a conflict with Trondheim municipality's external links policy and Gaysir's pornographic ads. It was questioned whether the municipality's website was to link to the website for a local gay arrangement, HomoUKA. This website again linked to Gaysir and Blikk (monthly newspaper for gays, lesbians and bisexuals). Trondheim municipality said they did not want to expose a link that lead to pages that could be offensive. The deputy mayor
of Trondheim
, Knut Fagerbakke
(SV
), arranged it so that the link was put back up. He said it was the website administrator who had removed the link in the first place, no politicians were involved, but when people were offended by the removal of the link, and HomoUKA requested the link back up, they put it back up.
About recommendations to the National Agency for Education (2007): Oslo Town Council adopted an action plan in 2006, against discrimination of gays, lesbians and bisexuals, with a recommendation that Gaysir and Blikk should be available for Gymnasium
students. Karita Bekkemellem
, who was the minister of Children and Equality Affairs on November 10 2007, sent a letter to 13 big municipalities, where they were encouraged to make similar action plans as Oslo. In the letter, she mentioned Blikk Nett and Gaysir as current resource pages.
The recommendation came after the conflict with the pornographic ads had been an issue in Trondheim. The letter started a chain of protests, first from the organisation Nordisk nettverk for ekteskapet (en.
Nordic network for marriage), and politicians from FrP and KrF distanced themselves from the recommendation. Gaysir, at that point, still had advertisers with webshops that showed hard core pornography pictures on film covers that were for sale on DVD and VHS. These film covers were visible with no censorship or login restrictions, and were described by Nordisk nettverk for ekteskapet and in a number of newspapers (Dagen, Magazinet
, Norge idag, Vårt Land
, Nettavisen
) in various detail. It was also referred to several examples from the advertiser's websites, such as somewhat rude titles on some of the films that were offered for sale, and a sex club where one could read messages with very direct descriptions. On October 18 2007, Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen
replaced Bekkemellem as the minister of Children and Equality Affairs, and FrP meant that Ramin-Osmundsen should retract the recommendation if the ads were not removed from the website.
From November 22, 2007, Gaysir adjusted the showing of the ads, so that they from then on were only visible for registered members.
Interactive) is the web community part of Gaysir. The users creates profiles and can send messages, pictures and emoticons to other users. The members can also write blogs and create photo galleries. The age limit for being a member is the same as the age of consent
in Norway, 16 years old.
With its 35 000 medlemmer per November 2007, Gaysir Interaktiv is a central meeting ground for the Norwegian gay community
. The gender division among the users is 30 % women and 70 % men.
Paid plus memberships were introduced to the users of Gaysir Interaktiv in 2002. Gaysir Interaktiv is available for non-paying members of the web community, but the free version does not have access to WAP
, no access to other user's photo galleries, and instead of some features, they get ads for the paid plus membership.
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
website, aimed mainly at gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
and bisexual men and women. Gaysir was one of Norway's first web communities
Web community
A web community is a web site that is a virtual community. A web community may take the form of a social network service, an Internet forum, a group of blogs, or another kind of social software web application....
, and has approximately 50 000 unique visitors per week.
The website is owned and run by the private aksjeselskap
Aksjeselskap
Aksjeselskap is the Norwegian term for a stock-based company. It is usually abbreviated AS or A/S, especially when used in company names. An AS is always a limited company, i.e. the owners cannot be held liable for any debt beyond the stock capital...
Gaysir AS. Among the board of directors are the Oslo-politician Håkon Haugli
Håkon Haugli
Håkon Haugli is a Norwegian jurist, administrator and politician for the Labour Party. He is a deputy representative at the Parliament of Norway, representing Oslo, and meets regularly instead of Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.-References:...
(Oslo bystyre), who is the leader of the Norwegian Gay and Lesbian Social Democrats (GALSD) in Arbeiderpartiet.
Gaysir was given the Æresprisen (en.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
Award of Honor) from Oslo LLH
Norwegian National Association for Lesbian and Gay Liberation
Landsforeningen for lesbisk og homofil frigjøring is a Norwegian "working politically and socially so that those who are gay, lesbian and bisexual can live openly without fear of being ostracized, discriminated, or harassed."The organization had its early beginnings in 1949, when the Danish...
during the annual event Skeive dager in central Oslo in 2006. The reason given was that the website had made a safe and including network for gays and lesbians, and contributed to gay identity building.
The website has been the subject of several controversies.
History
The first version of Gaysir was launched on September 22, 2000. Version nine was launched in late winter 2007. Gaysir became Norway's dominating website for gays after the web community Radiator, run by Helseutvalget for homofile, was shut down in 2002. While Radiator's active users were mainly women, the main group of Gaysir's active users were men.In November 2007, Gaysir AS had six full-time employees.
Power elite selection (Makttoppen)
On January 12 and 13, 2006 the Gaysir the redaction in Gaysir selected the power elitePower elite
A power elite or The Grand Elite, in political and sociological theory, is a small group of people who control a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, and access to decision-making of global consequence. The term was coined by C...
among openly gays and lesbians in Norway. The winner was the chairman of the city council of Oslo, Erling Lae
Erling Lae
Erling Lae is a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party.He was born in Oslo, is a cand.philol. by education and formerly worked as a journalist. From 1981 to 1985 he was a political advisor in the Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Administration. He was elected to Oslo city council in 1991,...
and the handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...
player Gro Hammerseng
Gro Hammerseng
Gro Hammerseng is a Norwegian handballer playing for the Norwegian national team and Norwegian club Larvik HK. She has been the captain of the national team for several years, and in 2007 she was voted female World Handball Player of the Year.- Club career :Hammerseng started her handball career...
.
The power elite (no.
Norwegian language
Norwegian is a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Norway, where it is the official language. Together with Swedish and Danish, Norwegian forms a continuum of more or less mutually intelligible local and regional variants .These Scandinavian languages together with the Faroese language...
Makttoppen) was also selected by the website in 2007, also then with Erling Lae topping the selection – this time accompanied by the then newly employed chief editor of Dagbladet
Dagbladet
Dagbladet is Norway's second largest tabloid newspaper, and the third largest newspaper overall with a circulation of 105,255 copies in 2009, 18,128 papers less than in 2008. The editor in chief is Lars Helle....
, Anne Aasheim.
Controversies
Prayer and Action Against the Selected Power Elite (2006): The power elite selection in 2006 received a lot of attention. Jan-Aage Torp, a Norwegian pastorPastor
The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....
in the Pentecostal
Pentecostalism
Pentecostalism is a diverse and complex movement within Christianity that places special emphasis on a direct personal experience of God through the baptism in the Holy Spirit, has an eschatological focus, and is an experiential religion. The term Pentecostal is derived from Pentecost, the Greek...
congregation Oslokirken, said to the Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
newspaper Norge IDAG that he recommended Christians to use the selections (Makttoppen) as a target for prayer to get the people in the selection removed from their professions. This call for a prayer campaign received attention from a number of media sources, including Dagbladet
Dagbladet
Dagbladet is Norway's second largest tabloid newspaper, and the third largest newspaper overall with a circulation of 105,255 copies in 2009, 18,128 papers less than in 2008. The editor in chief is Lars Helle....
.
Trondheim municipality's webportal (2007): In July 2007 there was a conflict with Trondheim municipality's external links policy and Gaysir's pornographic ads. It was questioned whether the municipality's website was to link to the website for a local gay arrangement, HomoUKA. This website again linked to Gaysir and Blikk (monthly newspaper for gays, lesbians and bisexuals). Trondheim municipality said they did not want to expose a link that lead to pages that could be offensive. The deputy mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Trondheim
Trondheim
Trondheim , historically, Nidaros and Trondhjem, is a city and municipality in Sør-Trøndelag county, Norway. With a population of 173,486, it is the third most populous municipality and city in the country, although the fourth largest metropolitan area. It is the administrative centre of...
, Knut Fagerbakke
Knut Fagerbakke
Knut Fagerbakke is a Norwegian politician for the Socialist Left Party.Since 2003 he is the deputy mayor of Trondheim, Norway's third largest city.Before becoming a full-time politician he worked as a consultant.-References:*...
(SV
SV
-Geography:* El Salvador, ISO 3166-1 country code* Schuylkill Valley, a school district in Pennsylvania, United States* Sierra Vista, a small city in the South-Eastern corner of Arizona, United States* South Vietnam* Silicon Valley-Organizations:...
), arranged it so that the link was put back up. He said it was the website administrator who had removed the link in the first place, no politicians were involved, but when people were offended by the removal of the link, and HomoUKA requested the link back up, they put it back up.
About recommendations to the National Agency for Education (2007): Oslo Town Council adopted an action plan in 2006, against discrimination of gays, lesbians and bisexuals, with a recommendation that Gaysir and Blikk should be available for Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
students. Karita Bekkemellem
Karita Bekkemellem
Karita Bekkemellem is a Norwegian politician. She belongs to the Norwegian Labour Party, where she leads the women's network....
, who was the minister of Children and Equality Affairs on November 10 2007, sent a letter to 13 big municipalities, where they were encouraged to make similar action plans as Oslo. In the letter, she mentioned Blikk Nett and Gaysir as current resource pages.
The recommendation came after the conflict with the pornographic ads had been an issue in Trondheim. The letter started a chain of protests, first from the organisation Nordisk nettverk for ekteskapet (en.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
Nordic network for marriage), and politicians from FrP and KrF distanced themselves from the recommendation. Gaysir, at that point, still had advertisers with webshops that showed hard core pornography pictures on film covers that were for sale on DVD and VHS. These film covers were visible with no censorship or login restrictions, and were described by Nordisk nettverk for ekteskapet and in a number of newspapers (Dagen, Magazinet
Magazinet
Dagen is a conservative Protestant Norwegian newspaper. Its predecessor was Magazinet, which was published three times a week. Its average circulation in 2004 was 5,307 copies. The last editor of the newspaper was Vebjørn Selbekk...
, Norge idag, Vårt Land
Vårt Land (Norwegian newspaper)
Vårt Land is a daily newspaper published in Oslo. It has a nationwide target audience. Its average daily circulation in 2007 was 27.146, it was Norway's 23rd largest newspaper...
, Nettavisen
Nettavisen
Nettavisen was the first Norwegian online newspaper that was not established in relation to a pre-existing real-life newspaper. It started up on 1 November 1996...
) in various detail. It was also referred to several examples from the advertiser's websites, such as somewhat rude titles on some of the films that were offered for sale, and a sex club where one could read messages with very direct descriptions. On October 18 2007, Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen
Manuela Ramin-Osmundsen
Manuela Myriam Henri Ramin-Osmundsen is a Norwegian politician belonging to the Norwegian Labour Party. Born in the French overseas department Martinique, she was appointed as Minister of Children and Equality Affairs in the second cabinet Stoltenberg on 18 October 2007, becoming the first...
replaced Bekkemellem as the minister of Children and Equality Affairs, and FrP meant that Ramin-Osmundsen should retract the recommendation if the ads were not removed from the website.
From November 22, 2007, Gaysir adjusted the showing of the ads, so that they from then on were only visible for registered members.
Services
Gaysir has, since the start, taken aim on offering daily updated news. The website has per November 2007, over 6000 articles in their archive.Gaysir Interactive
Gaysir Interaktiv (en.English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
Interactive) is the web community part of Gaysir. The users creates profiles and can send messages, pictures and emoticons to other users. The members can also write blogs and create photo galleries. The age limit for being a member is the same as the age of consent
Age of consent
While the phrase age of consent typically does not appear in legal statutes, when used in relation to sexual activity, the age of consent is the minimum age at which a person is considered to be legally competent to consent to sexual acts. The European Union calls it the legal age for sexual...
in Norway, 16 years old.
With its 35 000 medlemmer per November 2007, Gaysir Interaktiv is a central meeting ground for the Norwegian gay community
Gay community
The gay community, or LGBT community, is a loosely defined grouping of LGBT and LGBT-supportive people, organizations and subcultures, united by a common culture and civil rights movements. These communities generally celebrate pride, diversity, individuality, and sexuality...
. The gender division among the users is 30 % women and 70 % men.
Paid plus memberships were introduced to the users of Gaysir Interaktiv in 2002. Gaysir Interaktiv is available for non-paying members of the web community, but the free version does not have access to WAP
Wireless Application Protocol
Wireless Application Protocol is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network.A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that uses the protocol.Before the introduction of WAP, mobile service providers had limited opportunities to offer...
, no access to other user's photo galleries, and instead of some features, they get ads for the paid plus membership.