In many Dutch secondary schools, the toilets are still divided into two cubicles: for boys and for girls. Six in ten students are satisfied with this. That according to new research from the University of Amsterdam. On behalf of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, researchers collected views on LGBTI+ themes from more than 31,000 Dutch secondary school students between 2021 and 2024.
A majority of these young people believe that everyone is equal, regardless of who someone likes. A sizeable minority – 41 percent – of respondents disagree. The report shows that both conservative and progressive views can be found on all issues surveyed. The views are most closely related to general social orientation and gender. For example, young people with generally more conservative views also think more conservatively about LGBTI+ issues, and boys are on average more conservative than girls.
This difference between boys and girls is not the same everywhere. It is relatively small in pre-vocational secondary education, larger in havo and largest in pre-university education. In the period between 2021 and 2024, a slight shift is visible: girls have become slightly more conservative.
Religious young people have on average more conservative views than non-religious young people, and VMBO students score more conservative on average than HAVO and VWO students. It is also striking: certain factors do not play a role in themselves. For example, migration background and age are not directly related to LGBTI+ views.
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What did you find remarkable about your findings?
“We found the variation in views particularly striking. The Netherlands is internationally known as progressive in the field of LGBTQ+ acceptance, yet you see that both the conservative and progressive groups are substantially represented among young people. That contrast is what struck us most. It is not that the majority clearly points in one direction, both groups are really present.”
You make a distinction between ‘concrete gender expressions’ and ‘abstract norms’. Why is that distinction important?
“Concrete expressions of LGBTI+ themes, such as Purple Friday at school, gender-neutral toilets, or the question of whether gender is fixed from birth, are immediately visible in daily life. In a pluralistic society you can have differences of opinion about such matters, you want to see variation in that. Young people may think that a school should decide for itself whether Purple Friday is celebrated, there is room for debate.
It is striking, and what we saw in the literature study, that on average things are going quite well with the acceptance of lesbian and gay people. But when you talk about Purple Friday, you hear: ‘I shouldn’t have that shoved down my throat’. It shows that the extent to which persons are accepted is different from the extent to which expressions are accepted.
Abstract norms, such as equality and the right to decide for yourself who you fall in love with, are basic democratic values that our country stands for. That’s a completely different discussion. If 41 percent of young people believe that gay and lesbian people are not equal to heterosexual people, then this affects the citizenship mission that schools have.”
Nikki Dekker, PhD candidate at the UvA and lead researcher in the study into the LGBTQ+ views of young people.
Previous research found a link between migration background and LGBTI+ views, but you did not. How do you explain that?
“Firstly, we measured something different than much previous research. We looked at views on themes, such as gender-neutral toilets, and not at views on persons, such as ‘how do you feel towards a homosexual man’. How you feel about a person is something different from how you feel about a visible social expression.
Secondly, our study shows that migration background does play a role, but always in combination with other factors. We do not find an independent main connection, but we do find an interaction with religion. We see that the differences by religion are greater among young people without a migration background than among young people with a migration background. This qualifies the narrative that you often hear in the media, where the blame for intolerance is quickly placed on young people with a migration background. Our data shows it is much more complex than that. People have many different characteristics and environmental factors also determine how you think about something. Ultimately, all these factors together determine what you think about something.”
Are the results cause for concern or optimism?
“That depends on how you read it. On average, young people still score progressively on more abstract norms around equality and autonomy. Views have largely remained stable in recent years. But the fact that 41 percent of young people do not endorse the equality of LGBTQ+ people… that is a substantial group. We have now mapped it out. What this means is now up to politicians.”
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