Photo Guy Ackermans I recently had to deal with the unfortunate, yet rather frequent, experience of confronting a colleague at WUR who was casting a slur on the Pride Parade. His main argument claimed that the parade was encouraging perverse and sexualized ideas in the children watching it. Another argument expressed concerns about seeing Dutch police officers being part of such a parade. For him, their involvement was a reason not to trust or respect the police as an entity. Finally, he said: ‘I have nothing against gay people, but please keep your obscene parades out of sight of our children.’
Queers still encounter acts of nonsense discrimination and hatred
The Netherlands was the first country to legalize same-sex marriage, 24 years ago to be exact, and yet we still encounter acts of nonsense discrimination and hatred. One might think that having a legal framework would protect people of the LGBTIQ+ community from discrimination and oppression, but it is not the case. During my five years here at Wageningen University I have seen unspeakable acts of oppression towards minorities, and this is the core reason why Pride needs to exist.
Pride is a safe space to express our identity and solidarity, and to commemorate our trans women who started the movement after the Stonewall Uprising in June 1969. Pride is a protest for equal rights and against current governments, which incentivize discrimination. Pride reminds us that the fight is not a destination, but a continuous journey with many challenges along the way. Pride is me, you, us confronting anyone who discriminates others.
Willy Contreras-Avilés (34) is a second-year PhD candidate in Horticulture and Biochemistry of medicinal cannabis, from Panama. He likes to dance (perrear), cook Italian food, and swim.
