Queer Netherlands: A puzzling example

Abstract

Ever since the ‘sexual revolution’ of the 1960s, the Netherlands has been at the forefront of championing erotic freedoms. Amsterdam became internationally renowned as a city of sex, drugs and rock & roll – the gay and sex capital of the world, wide open to the celebration of erotic pleasures. The change for the Netherlands was dramatic: from a society ruled by Christian political parties and a conservative morality to a nation where sex could be enjoyed by locals and foreigners alike. The sexual revolution had far-reaching effects on Dutch society. While surveys show that most Dutch until the late 1960s were opposed to homosexuality, prostitution, pornography, abortion, divorce and preand extramarital sex, the majority a decade later claimed to accept such behavior. Stimulated by the NVSH (Dutch Society for Sexual Reform) and the COC (Center for Recreation and Culture, a code name for what would be baptized in 1971 the ‘Dutch Society for Integration of Homosexuality’), as well as by numerous social changes, the Dutch in the 1970s emerged as the most liberal nation in the world on issues of sexual morality (see Hekma and Duyvendak, 2011). This gave the Netherlands, and especially the city of Amsterdam, a worldwide reputation as a place of sexual freedom. Amsterdam became a magnet for foreign tourists, particularly its Red Light District and its gay scene. Sexual emancipation was a watershed for women and even more so for gay men – they were no longer seen as sinners, criminals or psychopaths. This narrative of sexual liberation continued with twists and turns until 2001, when the Netherlands reached the pinnacle of its erotic freedoms with the legalization of prostitution in 2000 and the opening of marriage to same-sex couples in 2001 (being in both cases the first country to do so). In the eyes of the law, homosexuality and heterosexuality were now nearly equal, though legal equality did not mean social equality. While gay and straight alike saw these legal victories as the end of a long struggle for equal rights, the media began to report on regular incidents of queer bashing, gay and lesbian teachers and students remaining closeted in schools, and LGTB people being chased out of their homes. Social problems