The organiser of Amsterdam’s Gay Pride boat parade, which will take place next week, has become a victim of gay bashing — along with his friend, who was bruised and wounded in the attack
Police have arrested four boys, and are still searching for a fifth criminal.
The attack occured just days before the weeklong Amsterdam Gay Pride celebration.
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.”
Gays, lesbians, bisexuals and a large contingent of heterosexuals put on their brightest plumage Saturday, and a rainbow fleet sailed through Amsterdam’s historic canals, as the city celebrated its annual Gay Pride festival.