2,000 March And Hold Hands In Amsterdam To Protest Attack On Gay Couple
Nearly 2,000 people marched hand-in-hand through the streets of Amsterdam Wednesday to protest anti-LGBT violence.
The demonstration was inspired by a recent attack on a gay couple who were beaten over the weekend. The men were walking home from a party around 4:00 am on Sunday morning when they were surrounded by a group of teenagers who assaulted them for holding hands in public.
Earlier this week, journalist Barbara Berend challenged men throughout the country to photograph themselves holding hands in an act of solidarity with the victims. Politicians, businessmen and other professionals took up the call, creating a viral social media hashtag #allemannenhandinhand with their photos.
Hundreds walk hand-in-hand through Amsterdam to show support for gay couple badly beaten in the Dutch city of Arnhem https://t.co/rdyjmTwX47 pic.twitter.com/lgUkQY7Yfe
— ABC News (@ABC) April 6, 2017
Wednesday's march took this idea to the streets of Amsterdam, with thousands of men and women gathering to hold hands and show their support for the LGBT community. A number of Dutch celebrities took part in the march, including Henny Huisman, Frits Barend and leader of the Amsterdam LGBT police team Ellie Lust.
Musician Douwe Bob was also there and said: "With this you can let the rest of the Netherlands know what we think about this. I find it very nice to be able to be here and to march along. We have one message we want to convey and that is love."
Last year, Dutch police received over 600 reports of violence linked to sexual orientation. Most of these incidents involved gay men being insulted with homophobic slurs or having eggs and other garbage thrown at their homes. 180 of these reports involved physical violence or the threat of physical violence.
"It's been a long time since me and my husband walked hand in hand on the street," one participant told local news station AT5. "I do not dare. You still get looks and people who spit. That's really not nice."
"It's not like in the 90s anymore, it's going in the other direction again," another marcher said. "You don't feel safe on the street at night. Then I don't walk hand in hand unfortunately."
"The freedom to love who you want, that is the summary of freedom," a protester concluded. "We as Dutch stand for freedom and will not let ourselves be oppressed."
