Dutch soldiers are once again allowed to wear their military uniforms while participating in Amsterdam’s Gay Pride canal parade, Deputy Defense Minister Jack de Vries has announced.

The deparment emphasizes that it will not officially take part in the parade by sponsoring a boat, as it does not believe the parade contributes to a more positive image of homosexuals. »

The University of Amsterdam (UvA) will not sponsor a boat during Amsterdam’s Gay Pride canal parade.

Last January Laurens Buijs, a researcher and teacher at the university’s College and Graduate School for Social Sciences, started a campaign encouraging the UvA to participate in the parade by sponsoring its own boat. Doing so is necessary, Buijs says, because according to him “homosexuality is still taboo among students.” »

In Amsterdam, 500,000 people turned out for the city’s 13th annual Gay Pride canal parade.

A record eighty boats carried thousands of gays and lesbians clad in scanty or extravagant clothing through the city’s historic centre. »