Progress Party youth leader calls for trans women to use men’s facilities

The leader of Norway’s Progress Party youth wing (FpU) has waded into the country’s gender debate, arguing that trans women should use men’s restrooms and locker rooms based on biological sex, Dagbladet reports.

Lars Barstad Løvold told the newspaper he agrees with TikTok personality Elias Omberg, who has repeatedly referred to Red Youth leader Alexandra Fredwall—a trans woman—as a man. “In my view, it is not hate speech when Omberg calls Alexandra a man,” Løvold said, while adding that he opposes bullying or harassment.

He insisted biological sex should determine facility use, stating, “It is biology that should decide which restroom or changing room someone uses, not how a person looks.” When asked about trans individuals who have undergone gender-affirming surgery, Løvold replied, “There are only two genders. An operation does not change biological reality.”

Despite his stance, Løvold said he would respect personal pronoun preferences in direct interaction. “The most important thing for me is that neither through legislation nor social pressure should anyone be forced to refer to others as something they do not believe they are,” he said.

Fredwall dismissed the comments, writing in an email to Dagbladet, “This could not matter less to me,” and accused the Progress Party of prioritizing “culture wars” over substantive issues.