Erling Lae

{{Short description|Norwegian politician}}

{{Infobox officeholder

| name= Erling Lae

| image= Erling Lae.jpg

| caption= Lae in 2007

| office= Governor of Vestfold

| term_start= 1 June 2010

| term_end= 30 June 2016

| monarch= Harald V

| primeminister= Jens Stoltenberg
Erna Solberg

| predecessor= Mona Røkke

| successor= Per Arne Olsen

| office1= Second Deputy Leader of the Conservative Party

| term_start1= 27 April 2008

| term_end1= 9 May 2010

| leader1= Erna Solberg

| predecessor1= Jan Tore Sanner

| successor1= Bent Høie

| office2= Governing Mayor of Oslo

| term_start2= 29 November 2000

| term_end2= 29 September 2009

| 1blankname2 = Mayor

| 1namedata2 = Per Ditlev-Simonsen
Svenn Kristiansen
Fabian Stang

| deputy2= Hilde Barstad
Peter N. Myhre
Sylvi Listhaug

| predecessor2= Fritz Huitfeldt

| successor2= Stian Berger Røsland

| office3= Oslo City Commissioner of the Elderly and Districts

| 1blankname3= Governing Mayor

| 1namedata3= Fritz Huitfeldt

| term_start3= 15 January 1997

| term_end3= 29 November 2000

| predecessor3= Torild Lien Utvik

| successor3= Bård Folke Fredriksen

| birth_date= {{birth date and age|1947|03|16|df=y}}

| birth_place= Oslo, Norway

| party= Conservative

| spouse= Jens Torstein Olsen

}}

Erling Lae (born 16 March 1947) 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 was a city commissioner between 1997 and 2000. From 2000 to 2009 he was the governing mayor of Oslo. As such he headed the executive branch of the city government in the capital city of Norway.{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2021 |title=Erling Lae |encyclopedia=Store norske leksikon |publisher=Kunnskapsforlaget |location=Oslo |url=http://www.snl.no/Erling_Lae |last=Lauritsen |first=Vibeke |editor-last=Tvedt |editor-first=Knut Are |editor-link=Knut Are Tvedt |language=Norwegian Nynorsk |accessdate=5 April 2022}}

He was a deputy leader of the Conservative Party from 2008 to 2010. In 2010 he was announced as the new county governor of Vestfold, succeeding Mona Røkke.{{Cite news |last=Ulrichsen |first=Henrik |date=12 March 2010 |title=Erling Lae ny fylkesmann |language=Norwegian |work=Tønsbergs Blad |url=https://www.tb.no/nyheter/erling-lae-ny-fylkesmann-1.4654621 |url-status=dead |access-date=14 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100315035224/https://www.tb.no/nyheter/erling-lae-ny-fylkesmann-1.4654621 |archive-date=15 March 2010}} He was succeeded in June 2016 by second deputy leader of the Progress Party, Per Arne Olsen.{{Cite news |date=3 June 2016 |title=Per Arne Olsen ny fylkesmann i Vestfold |language=Norwegian Bokmål |trans-title=Per Arne Olsen new county governor of Vestfold |work=Norwegian News Agency |url=https://www.adressa.no/nyheter/innenriks/2016/06/03/Per-Arne-Olsen-ny-fylkesmann-i-Vestfold-12831620.ece |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160610155222/https://www.adressa.no/nyheter/innenriks/2016/06/03/Per-Arne-Olsen-ny-fylkesmann-i-Vestfold-12831620.ece |archive-date=10 June 2016 |via=Adresseavisen}}

Lae is openly gay,{{Cite web |last=Mo |first=Ida Svingen |date=18 June 2007 |title=Lae hyllet i Berlin |url=http://www.dagsavisen.no/innenriks/article296501.ece |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090110092159/http://www.dagsavisen.no/innenriks/article296501.ece |archive-date=10 January 2009 |access-date=14 March 2010 |website=Dagsavisen |language=Norwegian}} and was named as the most powerful homosexual man in Norway three years in a row by queer website Gaysir, in 2006 through 2008.{{Cite news |last=Ghabel Lunde |first=Mina |date=25 January 2008 |title=- Norges mektigste homse |language=Norwegian Bokmål |trans-title=- Norway's most powerful homosexual man |work=NRK |url=https://www.nrk.no/osloogviken/--norges-mektigste-homse-1.4636138 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220405163006/https://www.nrk.no/osloogviken/--norges-mektigste-homse-1.4636138 |archive-date=5 April 2022}} He is married to Jens Torstein Olsen, a Lutheran minister,{{Cite news |last=Henriksen |first=Marianne |date=15 December 2010 |title=Baker jula inn |trans-title=Baking for Christmas |work=Byavisa Sandefjord |url=http://byavisa.sandefjord.no/nor/Samfunn/Aktuelt/Baker-jula-inn/(8555) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306105114/http://byavisa.sandefjord.no/nor/Samfunn/Aktuelt/Baker-jula-inn/(8555) |archive-date=6 March 2016}} with whom he had lived for 26 years before same-sex marriage was legalized in Norway in 2009.{{Cite news |last=Trellevik |first=Amund |date=11 June 2008 |title=Glad kjærligheten ikke lenger blir rangert |language=Norwegian Bokmål |trans-title=Delighted love no longer being ranked |work=Aftenposten |url=https://www.aftenposten.no/norge/i/X6pRr/glad-kjaerligheten-ikke-lenger-blir-rangert |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20220405164818/https://www.aftenposten.no/norge/i/X6pRr/glad-kjaerligheten-ikke-lenger-blir-rangert |archive-date=5 April 2022}}

In June later that year, Lae and his husband travelled to Vilnius, Lithuania to protest after Vilnius Mayor {{ill|Vilius Navickas|de||lt}} condemned gay pride parades in the city centre, along with the government of Lithuania passing a law banning "homosexual advertising".{{Cite news |date=22 June 2009 |title=Мэр Осло в знак протеста привез в Литву мужа-гея |language=Russian |trans-title=Oslo mayor brings gay husband to protest in Lithuania |work=Lenta.ru |url=https://lenta.ru/news/2009/06/22/two/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161105225552/https://lenta.ru/news/2009/06/22/two/ |archive-date=5 November 2016}}