A study commissioned by the municipality of Amsterdam showed that the perpetrators of verbal and physical violence against homosexuals in the capital are mainly young people of foreign origin. The result is not surprising, but it was deemed so undesirable for the city council that they kept it under wraps for six months.
Some 25 years ago the first Gay Pride took place in Amsterdam with street parties and a boat parade. Today, verbal attacks and physical violence against homosexuals have become serious problems in what once was a safe haven for non-heterosexuals around the world.
At least fifteen years ago, as early as 2006, the COC reported that a gay couple had been kicked out of Amsterdam’s Diamantbuurt. Unpleasant experiences and feelings of insecurity have since multiplied, reported Dutch daily De Telegraaf. COC Nederland is a Dutch organisation for LGBT people which originally stood for Cultuur en Ontspanningscentrum [Center for Culture and Leisure] a name intended as a “cover” for its real purpose. Founded in 1946, it is the oldest existing LGBT organization in the world.
The recent study commissioned by the municipality showed that intimidation and violence were mainly committed by young people of Moroccan origin. Homosexuals continue to leave Amsterdam but the city has refused to address the origins of homophobia.
Fear of stigma is an excuse for politicians, the media and interest groups like the COC to do nothing about the rising violence. The television appearance of far-left Mayor Femke Halsema, who even wept over the rise in anti-gay violence without once mentioning the perpetrators, is a case in point.
Gays in Amsterdam live in terror because even walking hand in hand is a risky decision. But leftwing Alderman Rutger Groot Wassink was in no rush to present the results of the study. He received the report around February 1, but waited until the city council’s summer recess to make it public, hoping that nobody would notice it.
Meanwhile, homophobia remains rampant in the capital, thanks to cowardly administrators who think they can “fight” the violence by ignoring the perpetrators.