Faith, hope and love: But the greatest of these is love

Toojis is out and proud! With his new art video Tooji hopes to kickstart a debate making love between persons of the same sex to be seen as something beautiful in religion.

“The song and the video is about the running from yourself, about denying yourself, and yes, about denying God. With the project I want to express that love between two of the same sex for too long has been tainted by religion. And that religion has imposed too many people unnecessary shame and anguish throughout the years”, Tooji says to the Norwegian lgbt-magazine Gaysir.no.

In the interview Tooji quotes Paulus letter to the Corinthians in the New Testament 

“And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.” 

“Religion has been the cause of much frustration for me as well; it has made me feel like a second-class citizen. But enough is enough! God is love - no matter which god you worship. If God can’t accept me as I am, so be it”, Tooji says. 

“This is probably the most important thing I've done in my life. Now it will be up to people to interpret the video, but for me it is important to say that this is about the pure, unequivocal love between two of the same sex who love each other. 

As Amnesty International says "love is a human right," and for me have human rights take precedence over religion”, Tooji says. 

About Tooji:
Tooji is a Norwegian artist. As a one year old boy, he came to Norway together with his mother, who fled from the authoritarian regime in Iran. Tooji became known in Norway when he won the national Eurovision Song Contest in 2012 and represented Norway in the international final of ESC in Azerbaijan with the song "Stay".

In the autumn 2013 Tooji cut all ties to the Norwegian music industry and moved to Stockholm, Sweden. 

Toojis new song "Father" is Oslo Prides official pride anthem for 2015. Tooji will performe at Oslo Prides official opening show in Pride Park in Spikersuppa, Wednesday 24 June, at Gaysirs annual summer party, Thursday 25 June, and at Oslo Prides annual parade show, Saturday 27 June.