Employees at Thon Hotels are not allowed to raise the rainbow flag at work. This has caused a commotion, with the group trustee claiming to be “stunned”.

While more or less “the whole of Norway” competes to put up as many pride flags as possible, everywhere, the Thon hotels have a different policy. The flags are not hung there at all.

It makes the group trustee in the hotel chain furious, she says she is “stunned”.

Thon Hotels works for inclusion, diversity and equality. A project group has been set up to achieve precisely these goals. That is why I am quite stunned to hear this, says group trustee Ann Kristin Sletvold to TV2.

The hotel chain, for its part, says that no one should be discriminated against. One simply has a different view of what diversity entails.

NTB reports on the case.

Promoting equality, equal opportunities and rights are topics our group works on systematically throughout the year, writes CEO Morten Thorvaldsen to TV2.

He adds that they have not raised rainbow flags on the flagpoles of the hotels because they want to be neutral. He believes that inclusion and diversity should embrace everyone.

Here lies the fact that these hotels will also be an alternative for those who do not feel at home under the pride flag, which is probably a larger proportion of the population than the major media publications are trying to portray.