Policy toward homosexuals

In the run up to the parliamentary elections, PvdA (Labour Party) leader Wouter Bos expressed his views in an interview on the need to put homosexuals on the political agenda. As the most likely contender to the position of prime minister, he criticised the incumbent Christian Democrat Jan-Peter Balkenende for his lack of ‘moral leadership’ toward homosexuals. During a trip to Indonesia, the prime minister proudly announced that he had personally voted against the ‘gay marriage’ legislation, whereas he is the very person who has been preaching the importance of ‘virtues and values’, and the need for tolerance and respect for one another.

Wouter Bos:

“The reason why we now have a separate paragraph in our election campaign about homo(sexual) emancipation has to do with the fact that the equality between homo(sexuals) and hetero(sexuals) is no longer self-evident for everyone in the Netherlands. At some schools teachers are going back into the closet, young gays are being bullied and in some neighbourhoods gays are harassed or even threatened. […] Netherlands can be proud that we have as the first country in the world ‘opened’ civil marriage for homo(sexual) couples as well. That really is equal treatment. […] Our example has inspired homosexuals and lesbians in the whole world and (given them) hope. [The Labour Party] will always stand for an undivided and tolerant Netherlands. A country in which everyone gets the same chances, man or woman, young or old, born here or coming from elsewhere, homosexual or heterosexual. And where all those people, with all their differences and all their characteristics, live together on the basis of respect and equality.”

The current Minister for Immigration and Integration, Rita Verdonk, also gave an interview on the issue. Her Party for Freedom and Democracy (VVD) has always insited that Article 1 of the Constitution on non-discrimination is above all other articles, including the freedom of religion. Thus civil servants should not be able to reject performing same-sex marriage registrations. She has also been much criticised in recent months for wanting to deport homosexual Iranian asylum seekers back to their country, where she argued it was safe to be. She focused on the issue of homosexuality in ethnic minorities:

“Homo(sexuals) and hetero(sexuals) have the same rights and deserve mutual respect. Period. That within some groups there is difficulty with homosexuality is also a fact. But exactly because of that it is important to take away the predjudices and continue to talk to one another. It seems to be really terrible if your parents do not accept you as who you are. And it appears in families with Muslims, Christians and Hindus.”

However, she argues that the government is not omnipotent when it comes to the acceptance of homosexuality:

“There can be no misunderstanding about the basic rules of our society. Men and women are just like homo(sexuals) and hetero(sexuals), ‘autochtones’ and ‘allochtones’ equal. […] the government [is not] the big problem solver. You cannot as government declare the acceptance of homosexuality per decree, however much I would like that. It must also come from society itself. Taking your own responsibility and talking to one another is important.”