Europride 2016 English

Gay Rights are Human Rights "To those who are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender, let me say, you are not alone.

Your struggle for an end to violence and discrimination is a shared struggle. Any attack on you, is an attack on the universal values of the United Nations.�

Ban Ki-moon, Secretaris-Generaal VN

Human rights foreign policy cornerstone Netherlands Human rights are the cornerstone of human dignity, freedom and development, and form the basis for open and free societies all over the world. There can be no democracy or rule of law if these rights are not promoted and protected. The Netherlands has a rich tradition of defending human rights, both at home and abroad. Doing so is a moral and legal obligation, besides which respect for human rights leads to a more stable and prosperous world, which also benefits the Netherlands. Within overall policy, the emphasis lies on protecting human rights defenders, equal rights for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgender people (LGBT), and equal rights for women.

The Netherlands was the first country in the world to introduce same-sex marriage (2001). Although we have not yet entirely achieved equal rights for LGBT people in the Netherlands, there is a high level of awareness in this country that this is an important objective to pursue. All people should be free to express their identity and to say in public who they love. In many parts of the world, however, the struggle for equal rights for LGBT people is still a ‘new frontier’. This theme is therefore one of the key priorities of Dutch human rights policy in the international arena.

Homosexuality is still a criminal offence in 76 countries. The sentence imposed most frequently is imprisonment, but corporal punishment is not uncommon. In five countries (Iran, Mauritania, Saudi Arabia, Sudan and Yemen), homosexuality carries the death sentence. Violence against LGBT people occurs throughout the world. Those affected often fail to report attacks to the police, fearful of being recognised as LGBT and/or of attracting further violence. Over 200 murders of transgender individuals are recorded each year. The actual number is probably much larger. Besides prosecution and violence, discrimination and unequal economic and social opportunities also pose a great problem, at work, at school, and in healthcare systems. Many countries have no antidiscrimination legisla- tion that specifically protects LGBT people. Their right to freedom of assembly and association is also frequently breached. The Netherlands seeks: to abolish the criminalisation of homosexuality; to oppose discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity; to achieve wider social acceptance of LGBT people.

The Netherlands to hold EU Presidency in 2016 In the first half of 2016 the Netherlands will hold the Presidency of the European Union for the 12th time.

The previous Dutch Presidency was in 2004. The EU Presidency meetings in the Netherlands will all take place at Amsterdam’s historical naval dockyard, the Marine Establishment. These are meetings of ministers and civil servants from all the EU member states.

The Netherlands is working actively to develop EU guidelines to promote equal rights for LGBT people for the benefit of EU delegations and embassies. The only normative instrument that focuses on equal rights for LGBT people is the LGBT Recommendation issued by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in 2010. This is particularly important for the promotion of these rights in non-EU countries that belong to the Council of Europe. The Netherlands wants to see a mechanism to monitor compliance with this recommendation. In the near future, the Council of Europe will start to monitor hate speech and violence against LGBT people.

The primary task of the European Agency for Fundamental Rights is to research compliance with fundamental rights within the EU. The Netherlands seeks to ensure that the Agency plays an active role in this area, for instance by seconding an LGBT expert to the organization. The Agency has published a major study of discrimination against LGBT people.

“The Netherlands will call attention among its partners to themes that are not necessarily viewed as self-evident throughout the EU, such as the importance of equal rights for LGBT people. Where necessary, the Netherlands will call its EU partners to account for the human rights situation where improvements are needed; conversely, the Netherlands is open to criticism and recommendations from its partners.�

Bert Koenders, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Amsterdam 2016 - EuroPride and Pink Saturday In September 2013 Amsterdam made a bid to host the EuroPride in 2016. The bid was supported by D66, VVD, Groen Links and PvdA. The organizers of the Amsterdam Gay Pride flew to Vilnius, capital of Lithuania, to represent Amsterdam and present the bid. The members of EPOA (European Pride Organizers Association) unanimously voted for Amsterdam to host the EuroPride in 2016. The Pink Saturday Foundation then decided that the capital could also host Pink Saturday in 2016.

The last time Amsterdam hosted EuroPride was in 1994, incidentally also the last time that Pink Saturday took place in the capital, and was held this year in a city of the former Soviet Union, Riga in Latvia, sister city of Amsterdam. As a member of EPOA we are very proud of that and have great respect for our local colleagues for having the courage to come out and openly fight for their rights in a regime that is homophobic and opposed to them.

By hosting these two important LGBT events Amsterdam closes half a year of Dutch Presidency of the EU, where LGBT rights will be high on the agenda. Amsterdam will show that it is still a precursor in the fight for equal rights and freedom for everyone, anywhere in the world.

“Each summer we celebrate gay pride, a successful event which contributes to a tolerant and gay friendly atmosphere. Our aim is to extend this powerful event on a bigger scale; EuroPride 2016 would be the prefect possibility. The City of Amsterdam will give full support to make EuroPride 2016 In Amsterdam a festive event of great importance�.

Eberhard van der Laan, Mayor of Amsterdam

EuroPride 2016 – JOIN OUR FREEDOM Under the motto JOIN OUR FREEDOM we call on everyone to show we are Proud to live in freedom and have the right to be ourselves and love the one we want. We will celebrate that freedom but at the same time continue the struggle for equal rights within the EU, until we can say with full confidence that we really free to be who we are, build our own kinds of families and pursue the lives and careers we deserve. So that we are accepted and embraced with dignity by our families, neighbours and colleagues anywhere in the Union.

EuroPride 2016 will last two weeks from 23 July / August 7, with Pink Saturday and the Walk Parade on July 23rd, a European TV concert on the Dam Square on Sunday, July 24th , and the street parties and world famous Boat Parade in the last weekend.

Compared to a regular Amsterdam Gay Pride EuroPride will also be distinguished by the many important international LGBT conferences, sports and other events that will take place, including The World Conference for LGBT law enforcement and criminal justice professionals, The European Bisexual Conference, International Workplace Pride Conference, Smashing Pink Tennis Tournament European and International LGBT Choir Festival at the Royal Concert Hall. Also, many Amsterdam Museums show special LGBT related collections and participate in a unique EuroPride Art route that will also contain objects in public space.

In 2015, the Amsterdam Gay Pride celebrated its 20th edition and we paid attention to what had happened in the past 20 years and where we are now as LGBT community. We have achieved a lot but unfortunately we also note that during the celebration of 200 years of our Kingdom the law in our countries in the Caribbean still lags behind and needs to be modernized. In addition, we see that the percentage of LGBT youth suicide attempts are still 5 times higher than for heterosexual youth and to that in our country many LGBT’s with a religious or other cultural background still can’t come out of the closet safely.

So unfortunately also in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the battle is not yet fought and our freedom is not yet obvious to all. We hope that EuroPride 2016 can be of help to make people jointly work towards greater social acceptance of LGBT’s.

Lucien Spee, CEO Amsterdam Gay Pride Foundation

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AMSTERDAM GAY PRIDE AFTER MOVIE 2015 ________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________