Next week on the street
Next week there will be demonstration again for the rights of the queer community. That is not called Pride Walk, but Pride March. This is organized for the second time by Pride Amsterdam, who has also been organizing the boat parade for years. The fact that there are two different marches is due to disagreement among the two organizers: Pride Amsterdam and Queer Pride.
Pride Amsterdam believes that there should be no room on the Mars for protests that are not about the queer community. With today’s mars, that is possible. There are therefore various Palestine flags today.
Last year the other organization – Queer Amsterdam – was one of the organizers of this day, but the group withdrew just before the Mars. That happened after Queer Amsterdam was discredited because she forbade wearing the Israeli flag. It led to much criticism from, among others, Mayor Halsema and alderman Meliani. The prohibition was withdrawn and Queer Amsterdam then left the organization of the Pride Walk.
Equal rights
Various visitors tell why they are joining today prior to the march. “I feel that equal rights are under pressure in the Netherlands, so I am here because I think it is important that we all show that everyone is the same,” says a demonstrator. “It is important that visibility creates, because that is still not enough,” says another.