Dutch Cabinet Shows Their Gay Pride

Filed Under Politics, Pride Events | July 31st, 2008 

AMSTERDAM, (PRNewswire) — The Dutch Cabinet will participate in the Amsterdam Gay Pride on August 2. The boat* is an initiative of Dutch Minister Ronald Plasterk, who is the coordinating Secretary of gay policy.

Amsterdam Gay Pride NewsPlasterk has invited fellow Cabinet member Guusje ter Horst, Minister for Home Affairs, who has agreed to come along. It will be the first time the Cabinet is represented during the Gay Pride. Also new this year will be a police boat with police-officials and the Christianity boat. The parade, which will see around 80 boats sailing through the Prinsengracht, will commence at 1.30pm.

“We are glad that this year politicians in Holland are more aware of the need to focus on social acceptance of homosexuality as they used to do over the last few years”, ProGay-chairman Frank van Dalen says. “The Amsterdam Gay Pride is an event with a substantive touch. It is important to make homosexuality visible, because you can’t deny what’s visible.” Van Dalen is very pleased with the Christian participation. “So far Orthodox Christians believed in two separate worlds, as if homosexuality is not part of their own closed society. This boat proves them wrong.” Several dedicated masses will be held on the day, of which one is in a synagogue.

Street parties will be organized at several locations across the city. There will be outdoor stage performances by national and international DJ-s and artists at the Reguliersdwarsstraat, at the Westermarkt and on Amstelveld. The Amstelstraat and Paardenstraat will host a street party especially composed for women. The Dutch bear band Bearforce1 will perform at Amstel.

The will be an extensive cultural program around Amsterdam Gay Pride. The Jewish Historical Museum will host an exhibition with gay-related photos and will show the movie ‘Jerusalem is proud to present’ about the Jerusalem gay pride in relation to the orthodox Jews. The Amsterdam Historical Museum has organized a special tour the Dutch royal family. Artis zoo has a tour about homosexuality in the animal kingdom. There will also be activities at the Van Gogh museum and the Museum of Bags and Purses. In Rialto Filmtheater and De Uitkijk several gay and lesbian films will be shown. This year the second edition of the Company Pride will be held about homosexuality on the working floor. The theme will be ‘Visibility in Business, at Work’.

Interest in the Amsterdam Gay Pride is bigger than ever this year. The maximum of participants for the boat parade was reached more than a month before the event. Also remarkable is the interest from the business world. The Amsterdam Gay Pride sponsors this year will be ING and TNT. It is for the first time that multinationals support the event, which indicates the Amsterdam Gay Pride is developing strongly.

Related Link: www.weareproud.nl

Source: Bennink Bicker Caarten BV

* Editor’s note: The Amsterdam Gay Pride Parade features boats instead of floats.