A Woman On An Arctic Mission

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Gitte invites the global LGBT+ community to go vote for her and share the message of acceptance and visibility

Gitte Hansen (37) has entered the competition Fjällräven Polar 2020 – a 300 km epic, international journey on a dog sled through the arctic wilderness.

The seed for Fjällräven Polar was planted back in the early 1990s when Fjällräven founder Åke Nordin met Kenth Fjellborg, one of Sweden’s leading dog-sled drivers. Kenth had participated in Iditarod, the world’s most difficult dog sled competition through the harsh Alaskan wilderness, and this inspired Åke.

They wanted to create a Swedish equivalent, but not for experts like Kenth – for ordinary people. And a few years later in 1997, once all the details were ironed out, Fjällräven Polar took place in the Scandinavian Arctic for the first time.

Entry to Fjällräven Polar is by votes and jury selection and is region-based. Two people from each region are selected.
Gitte invites the global LGBT+ community to go vote for her

She lives in Copenhagen with her partner and rescue dog Bodil. She has never been yelled at, or experienced any form of discrimination and knows – that this is not the reality for most LGBT+ people around the world. Gitta is on a mission – to inform, enlighten and meet people from all over the world – who may never have met an open lesbian before.

“I am extremely aware of the privilege I experience every day. When I get up in the morning, I can be who I am, I don’t have to lie or pretend or risk violence or jail. So I feel obliged to use that privilege and try to help spread out information and LGBT+ visibility”.

The Arctic expedition is attended by people from all over the world. People who may never have spoken to an openly gay woman, people who may be gay – but never felt safe to talk about it. Gitte is convinced that communication and real-life meetings in beautiful nature, is the key to more love, humility and understanding in this world.