Norway has a reputation for being a more tolerant country with progressive views when it comes to sexuality.
So why then are local celebrities posting photos of themselves wearing t-shirts saying ‘fucking gay’ all over social media?
The stunt is actually part of a campaign by local journalist and documentary film maker Gisle.
A gay man himself, Gisle is working on a documentary series for the Norwegian national broadcaster - NRK, which also will be titled ‘Jævla Homo’ and be aired later in the year.
The recent influx of celebrities on social media wearing the words 'Jævla Homo' is a campaign he and NRK initiated to make people think about their use of the words.
"No one is only a ‘fucking gay'"
In an opinion piece this week he referenced research by Hilde Slåtten, which looked into what she calls ‘gay-insults’.
According to the research carried out by Slåtten for her PhD thesis, gay-related insults are the most common in Norwegian school yards, 54% of male respondents said they had called someone 'gay' during the last week.
Slåtten's research found that it is mostly used among friends, but that this can still be hurtful as it quite often can be hard to distinguish what is a friendly and un-friendly situation.
More importantly she says, it also has a stigmatising effect for LGBTQ people.
So with the campaign Gisle and NRK got celebrities to dress up in a t-shirt or wear a cap with the words ‘Jævla Homo’ printed in bold letters.
Eskil Pedersen - previous head of the Norwegian Labour party's youth movement, who was present on Utøya island when the political group notoriously came under attack in 2011 by gunman Anders Breivik.
In research done by the University of Bergen about sexual orientation and quality of life, it is found that 40% of men in Norway agreed with the statement 'Sex between two men is simply wrong'.
The same research also found that 62% was negative to two men kissing in public.
Women was in general found to be more positive towards gay and lesbian, and the general attitude towards gay and lesbians had improved compared to a similar study done 5 years earlier in 2008.
Being gay himself and often feeling insecure and labelled in his home country, Gisle wanted to bring the reality of life as a gay man in Norway in 2017 into the spotlight and show that it is not always easy.
"When someone see their idol posting pictures of themselves on Instagram with the words "Jævla homo", it may not be as painful to get these words slung at you in the schoolyard."
"When someone see their idol posting pictures of themselves on Instagram with the words "Jævla homo", it may not be as painful to get these words slung at you in the schoolyard," Gisle told Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet.
The campaign focuses on people’s use of their language and he hopes some people at least will stop using the words.
"If someone also will be proud to be a ‘Jævla Homo’ because they now see their idol wearing the t-shirt that would be touching," Gisle tells Dagbladet.
The campaign have seen many of Norway’s biggest celebrities wearing the t-shirt, including politicians, TV personalities, bloggers and many others.
Carl Martin Eggesbø - actor from the highly popular youth TV series SKAM
Ida Wammer - journalist for NRK
No one is only a ‘fucking gay’
Adam Schjølberg - hair and beard stylist
Else Kåss Furuseth - standup comedian, actor, reporter and presenter
Some of them are gay themselves and others just believe in a more open and inclusive society free from abuse and stigma.
In an Instagram post Gisle writes that he still has issues himself with the fact that he has a boyfriend.
He is afraid to be put in a box and labelled just a "fucking gay" - and afraid to not belong as he will be labelled gay.
A queer orientation is such a strong marker of identity that everything else goes up in smoke.
The title of Gisle's opinion piece on NRK is "No one is only a ‘fucking gay.’"
He writes about his own insecurities and prejudices about being gay - about the wonderful times he spends with his boyfriend, about their dreams and ambitions, about cuddling up on the couch watching a movie and all the things couples do.
Yet, he writes, when they walk out the door the label is there – gay.
He writes, "a queer orientation is such a strong marker of identity that everything else goes up in smoke."
His documentary series about being gay will air on NRK in Norway in 2017.
In the series he will explore why the topic is so hard to talk about, where the feeling something is wrong comes from, why people are so shameful that they take their own life, but he will also look at what is GREAT about being gay.
The campaign has taken off and Gisle posted on Instagram that he was taken aback by all the support.