The lhbti community in Eindhoven is fighting back after the attack and destruction of a rainbow flag last week. Hundreds of people came to the COC building on Saturday, where a new rainbow flag was symbolically hung.
The message from gays, lesbians and transgender people is clear: “We will not let ourselves be sent back into the closet and remain who we are. We will respond to hate with love,” they say. Astrid Oosenbrug, the chairman of COC Netherlands, spoke during the meeting. She’s furious. “How the hell do you get it into your head? This really has to stop! Keep your fingers off our youngsters!”
Besides militancy, there is also a lot of anger and sadness about what happened in Eindhoven last week. Then a COC volunteer was beaten, the rainbow flag was set on fire by football hooligans.
Mart de Korte, 67, who fought for gay rights and acceptance in the 1970s, does not understand why hooligans attacked vulnerable young people. He is very emotional when he talks about the incident and starts to cry: “I think: this is not possible and this is not allowed”.
“Young people have been chased back into the closet.”
Samantha Janssen is one of the young people who was there when hooligans attacked the COC building. She stands combatively with the rainbow colors on her sleeves. “Young people who fled are terribly shocked and chased back into the closet. They no longer dare to identify themselves as gay or lesbian. But fortunately they are doing a little better in the meantime.”
She herself does not dare to express her orientation so clearly everywhere. But the enormous turnout of sympathizers visibly does her good.
“We are already used to hateful words.”
That the young people who fled from the hooligans were terribly shocked, says Eindhoven COC chairman Benjamin Ector: “They fled home and were chased back into the closet. This should never have happened. You will not get this within two straightened out again in weeks. We are already used to hateful words. But you now see a trend that there are also hateful acts, which is a very worrying development. “
The LGBT community received enough support on Saturday. In addition to LGBTI people, there were also many Eindhoven residents, some with children, representatives of PSV and the alderman for diversity of Eindhoven Samir Toub.
“This has affected me personally, because I myself know what it is like to be excluded, because of who you are,” said the alderman with Moroccan roots. Toub says he is proud that so many Eindhoven residents, including PSV supporters, have come to watch the hoisting of the rainbow flag.
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