Spot contra la homofobia por la KNVB (by M Porque Yolodigo)
A cute commercial currently airing on Dutch television in support of players coming out of the closet.
Q.
Everyone is Different (by GSANetworkNL)
Promovideo for Dutch website www.iedereenisanders.nl, which is made for LGBT youth. On the website young LGBT people can find information on how to talk to parents, friends and family about their feelings, how to meet other LGBT youth and where to find help if you’re not feeling well.
Gay Iraqi asylum-seekers welcome in the Netherlands
Gee, do you think the US will follow suit?
Q.
Friday 13 July
Published on : 13 July 2012 - 11:07am | By Louise Dunne ((c) ANP/ BWJones)
The Dutch government has decided to grant asylum to gay Iraqis. Immigration minister Geert Leers says Iraq is no longer safe for homosexuals, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders.
Mr Leers had already announced a temporary halt to the deportation of gay Iraqis last month following an alert from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry warned that it was impossible to be openly gay anywhere in Iraq without being at serious risk. The Iraqi authorities also fail to take any measures to stop discrimination or attacks on homosexuals.
Koen van Dijk of the Dutch gay rights organisation COC described the announcement as an important victory for Iraqis who had fled the country because of their sexual orientation. According to van Dijk, Iraq is the most dangerous country in the world for gay people: “Research has shown that 750 people have been murdered for this reason since 2003. There are systematic campaigns. Organised militias publicly declare that they’re hunting down people who exhibit ‘deviant’ behaviour and should be killed according to Islamic law.”
Burden of proof
Asylum-seekers will have to prove that they are homosexual before their request is granted. It is unclear just how this will be checked and, says van Dijk, it will lead to difficulties, “especially because people will have to prove something they’ve taught themselves to disguise out of fear for their entire life. It will be a very tricky situation and the immigration officials carrying out the interviews will need special training”.
The Dutch parliament had asked Mr Leers in March to carry out an enquiry into the situation of gays, lesbians, bisexuals and transgenders in Iraq, following a series of reports about the murder of gays.
Dutch minister stops gay ‘cure’ therapy health insurance
Edith Schippers has stopped insurance companies from being forced to pay
Gay ‘cure’ therapy will no longer be available in the basic health insurance package in the Netherlands, Dutch Health Minister Edith Schippers announced today.
In a letter to parliament, Schippers said homosexuals who suffer psychologically because of their sexual orientation should be offered pastoral guidance rather than medical treatment, since homosexuality is not a psychiatric disorder.
The announcement will affect groups such as Christian-inspired mental health organisation ‘Different’, which claims to provide therapy for homosexuals to help ‘repress their sinful urges’.
Insurance companies could not refuse to pay for treatment as these groups were officially recognised as providers of psychological help, further fuelling right-wing groups who saw this state backing as proof that homosexuality could be cured or changed.
Schippers said: “There’s no question of a psychiatric diagnosis [for homosexuals], no psychiatric treatment, and therefore there should be no insured care.”
‘Different’ will still be entitled to provide pastoral counselling for anyone who is unhappy with their homosexual feelings, but this is to be paid for by the individual.
