Archive Discipline: An Interview on the Danish Gay and Lesbian Archive with Karl Peder Pedersen

During the summer of 2007, the Danish Gay and Lesbian Union handed over its archives to the National Archive of Denmark due to financial difficulties in the union. The archive has been kept safe and available for researchers since. In this article, gay historian Peter Edelberg interviews fellow historian and archive activist Karl Peder Petersen, who was leader of the archive for decades along with his partner, Ib Krog Larsen. Pedersen relates the story behind the archive and the intentions and activities of the archive activists. He talks about the lack of “archive discipline” in the gay and lesbian movement and the fate of the archives in the hands of the National Archive. The interview makes plain that the archive was never just a given, but is the product of many hands and changing intentions and social circumstances.