Gay Activism

I have been active within the Dutch gay movement since 2005. I was president of the world's oldest existing gay movement, COC Netherlands, and since 2007 have served as president of the ProGay foundation.

I am also president of the Amsterdam Gay Museum foundation and of the media company OUT, which publishes the free magazine Gay & Night that is circulated in the gay hotel and catering industry.

In recent years, I have dedicated myself to the following:

COC Netherlands UN status

I led a global campaign in Canada, during the OUT Games in 2006, to gain support for UN status for COC Netherlands. Within the UN there were several thousand organizations that could have their voices heard, but none of them was a gay organisation. In 2008, the COC received UN status.

International Gay Pride

I have been present as an observer or exercised political pressure in several countries where governments ban gay pride or where gay pride is attacked. In this way, homosexuality was made visible on television in Moldova for the first time. In Poland, I was able to speak to 7,000 people and, for the first time, corner opponents who have been dominant for years. In Lithuania, I attended a conference on homosexuality where the homophobic government was challenged.  In order to exercise Western pressure, I attended lawsuits filed in Turkey against the local gay movement that may be outlawed. In Germany, I spoke about the developments between Islam and homosexuality in society. In Portugal, I have spoken about equal rights for homosexuals and lesbians in the European context, and have sought special recognition for transgendered individuals.

Safety

I think that every homosexual, lesbian, transgender, or bisexual should feel completely safe. In 2007 I made arrangements with the Attorney General of the Public Ministry that perpetrators of homophobic violence shall always be prosecuted and imprisoned, that the police shall respond to homophobic violence, and that culprits shall receive harsher punishments. This policy has been effective.

Homosexuality in Amsterdam

As president of ProGay I have been able to direct the vision of development for homosexual policy in Amsterdam. In September 2009, the municipality assumed the title of "Amsterdam Gay Capital." To this end, we established an increase in camera surveillance for greater security, investment in Amsterdam Gay Capital, and additional gay/straight alliances and neighbourhood initiatives for the gay community.

Amsterdam Gay Pride

ProGay organised Amsterdam Gay Pride. This year's Gay Pride was nominated as the best gay event in the world. In 2007 the policy was amended. More culture, more content, and moor empowerment. In this way, gay teenagers around the world gained a face in 2007, activists from Eastern Europe came to gain inspiration, and, for the first time, multinationals lined up under the title 'Company Pride', during the boat parade. Aside from the boat parade and visitors along the way and in the city, the celebrations also grew in recent years.

Iran

The world was shocked by the pictures of two boys who were hanged in Iran because they were gay. In the Netherlands, an asylum seeker currently sits in the deportation centre of Schiphol, waiting to be returned to Iran. There was a death sentence in store for him. Intensive and protracted lobbying ensued, with the result that asylum seekers may stay in the Netherlands and homosexual Iranians as a group may gain asylum in the Netherlands. The Netherlands was the first country in Europe to have this policy. It has not prevented new executions in Iran. But at least one life was saved.

Civil marriage

The Netherlands was the first country in the world where civil marriage for same-sex couples was unrestricted. Even so, religious ministers in the Netherlands may refuse to marry gay or lesbian couples. I am against this. On April 1, 2007 I secured an agreement that gained a majority in the Lower House that this will no longer be permitted in subsequent governments. During the Amsterdam Gay Pride in 2009, five gay couples, each with one Dutch and one American partner, were united together through marriage. In this way, an impetus was given to the discussion about the opening of civil marriage in America.