Claus Jervell Heads The New Men's Committee Shame Is Devastating

- I think about men all the time But in a different way than before, says Claus Jervell.

He has extensive experience in equality work, as a shop steward in the trade union movement and he is gay - In primary school, I was big on mouth and concerned with justice, so I wasn't afraid to speak up.

- But I had never learned to be good at "boy things", says Claus He is now technical secretary in the Norwegian Confederation of Norwegian Fisheries, with primary responsibility for aquaculture.

After many years as adviser and professional director in the Equality and Discrimination Ombudsman (LDO), Claus Jervell returned to the trade union movement in 2018 The academy at Skillebekk 1961 was brand new when Claus came into the world.

He and the two older sisters, Tone and Anne, became close like hail The family lived in an apartment on the first floor in one of the side streets of Bygdøy allé.

His father Jak was a doctor, while his mother Brit was a physiotherapist They became social friends with the family who moved into the floor above.

The children used to lie on the floor and watch TV at their place, because they had got TV first The Jervell children started at Ruseløkka school in Vika, while the neighbour's children - Camilla, Jens and Ninni Stoltenberg - went to Steinerskolen.

"I wasn't tough" When Claus was four, the family traveled to Great Britain for two years, where his father obtained a doctorate In Belfast, children started school when they were five years old.

Claus thus got his start at school in Northern Ireland - Mother has told us that one day we came home from school and spoke English, he says.

Back home in Oslo in 1967, he started first grade and was a cute little boy with long blond hair Six years and forever least in the class.

- There was a lot I didn't have confidence in, such as football I've never fought either.

- Growing up was safe We were a kind of unit, me and my sisters.

I think it has influenced me Divorce shock When Claus was 10, his parents divorced.

Jak Jervell moved just a stone's throw away and the children had regular visitation arrangements with their father However, everything was different.

- It was a difficult time for my parents, too When I was trying to figure out who I was, I felt like I had no one to talk to about how I was feeling.

When Claus finishes secondary school in 1976, his mother decides to move home to Trondheim The sisters do not join Trøndelag, while Claus starts at the gymnasium.

There is more going on in politics than in homework, with the result that he fails in maths He finds himself at home in Rød Ungdom.

Homosexual shame and liberation The decriminalization of homosexuality only happened in 1972 Claus was then 11 years old.

Throughout puberty, he felt ashamed and "wrong" Homosexuals were old men and not something he could identify with.

He was 17 before he met a like-minded person - An acquaintance of mine knew a boy who was gay.

I was very keen to meet this boy He was the first person my age I had met who was openly gay.

Claus checked him up, and they were together for a few hectic summer holiday weeks After that he came out of the closet.

In front of his parents, he was on the offensive The message was clear: "I'm gay, and if you have a problem with that, it's your problem, not mine.

" Neither parent had it - To go from suppressing all this to giving it a name, to understanding that this is how you can live your life - that was hugely important to me.

It became one of the pillars of life My identity started from the fact that society puts a diagnosis on you, to a liberation project.

His method was to face prejudice with openness - Shame is destructive.

When you don't hide something, it has less power, he emphasizes The collective life After high school, Claus moved with a friend into one of the occupied apartments on Bakklandet in Trondheim.

The aim was to prevent the demolition of the area, which was threatened by motorway development Bakklandet Velforening reached an agreement with the municipality and Claus paid NOK 87 in rent.

- It was cold water and outdoors, but a lot of human warmth, political discussions and community The friendships became vital to Claus.

He is described as someone who always shows up It was here that he grew up.

As one body In addition to being politically active in Rød Ungdom, Claus worked as a dishwasher at Hotel Residence on the square in Trønder's capital He enjoyed himself incredibly well there, although he soon realized that he could not bet on a professional career in the scrub.

But He Liked To Cook - I Like The Concrete

To see results here and now And to work together with others.

In an À La Carte restaurant, with a good team, you almost work as one body, you can achieve anything! If you have a bad team, it goes to hell Oslo was next.

He moved in with his friend Anka, who was then leader of Rød Ungdom, a position he himself took over in 1989 There was a lot of turbulence and disagreements in RU and Claus left the organization after barely a year as leader.

- I was vaccinated against dogmatism and orthodoxy at the time The positive thing was that I learned a lot from it.

Chef at Plaza Claus Jervell studied cooking at Bristol in Oslo In 1990 he got a job as a chef at the Italian restaurant in the newly opened Oslo Plaza.

The plans were for the Plaza to become a five-star luxury hotel, the best in Northern Europe, says Claus His plan was to concentrate on becoming a good cook.

He was tired of political conflicts The Gulf War in 1991 caused the market to collapse.

Instead of success, there was reorganization and downsizing of the staff with 30-40 different nationalities - It was a messy process.

I couldn't keep my mouth shut, so I became a shop steward, laughs Claus During the Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Strike in 1996, he was the main shop steward at the Plaza and strike leader for the Oslo Hotel and Restaurant Workers' Association.

Glass jellyfish salad in Dalian The million-dollar city of Dalian in northeast China is about 30 miles from the border with North Korea A five-star luxury hotel wanted a Western chef who could cook for the tourists.

Claus got the offer from a friend and jumped at the chance It is 1997.

Claus didn't speak Chinese - I learned a lot from being a foreigner and not understanding any of the things that are understood.

There were some difficult periods there He received a few hours of language lessons during the breaks in the middle of the day.

It was only when he came home to Norway that he started studying Chinese - Eventually I made friends.

The people are the same, it's the systems that are different, says Claus Now there are only two things he does not eat - brain and intestines.

Glass jellyfish salad, on the other hand – it can be eaten both fresh and dried Or admired; Claus has a picture of glass jellyfish on the kitchen wall.

Torstein - best friend Claus Jervell and Torstein Tranøy met in Rød Ungdom Tranøy was a journalist in Dagens Næringsliv and later wrote the book about Gerd-Liv Valla's fall.

- We became best friends We had so much in common.

Socially, politically, a gay life, we built a strong friendship We were supposed to be friends and grow old together.

He also moved to Oslo, and we had an apartment in the same block of flats Torstein Tranøy developed epilepsy as an adult, and Claus was listed as his next of kin.

On this Monday in 2009, Torstein did not show up at work The editor of Dagens Næringsliv called Claus.

When Claus stood outside the door and saw the newspapers on the doormat, he realized that something was seriously wrong He called the police and fire brigade.

And waited He did not go in, but stood in the hallway when a covered Torstein was carried out.

He died after a severe epileptic seizure - It was so pointless.

I have been so angry and despairing Then life was black.

But there were many of us who knew Torstein, so the nice thing was that we could mourn together The other Torstein Da Claus met his partner - Torstein Bremset - again at a party during "Odd Days" in 2006, they remembered each other well from their first meeting at the Studentersamfunnet in Trondheim in 1980.

At that time, Claus had spotted him beautiful with a cowboy hat and twirl moustache Then the relationship lasted for a couple of weeks, before Torstein's Christian upbringing crashed with Claus' collective life on Bakklandet.

Now It Was Different It's Still The Two Of Them

Equality for all In 2006, he was employed as an adviser at the Equality and Discrimination Ombudsman - without an academic background He has worked under three different ombudsmen, from adviser to professional director.

- A master's degree is now required for all positions There is a problem.

There is a gap between those who will do the work and those who will guide That gap must be removed, says Claus Jervell.

In 2018, Fellesforbundet advertised a position as professional secretary for the aquaculture industry Jervell wanted to return to the trade union movement.

Then a minister came and caught him inside Now there will be both aquaculture and male roles.

He is well qualified for both tasks Life crosses its tracks - Jens Stoltenberg led the first men's committee in 1986.

And Camilla Stoltenberg sits on the committee Claus Jervell is now the leader --- The men's committee ---.