Karen-Christine Friele (née Wilhelmsen; 27 May 1935 – 22 November 2021), known as Kim Friele, was a Norwegian gay rights and human rights activist, famous for being the first gay Norwegian to publicly acknowledge and advocate for her sexuality, in June 1965.

[citation needed] She came out as a lesbian, around three years before the repeal (in 1972) of Section 213 of the Norwegian Penal Code; she was one of two openly gay persons in Norway, that were then known to the public.

She and Wenche Lowzow, a noted politician in the Conservative Party, were among the first to formalize their partnership when same-sex unions were allowed in 1993.

[citation needed] In 2005, she was proclaimed the fourth most important Norwegian of the Century in a public vote through NRK.

[4] Friele was appointed a statsstipendiat ("government scholar") in 1989, and lived in the ski town of Geilo, Norway.