More than 8 percent of boys and about 12.5 percent of girls are not only attracted to the opposite sex. On average, this is about 1 in 10 young people.
–
–
And those young people are coming out of the closet earlier and earlier, according to studies of recent years. But the specific moment of ‘coming out’ is also less, says researcher Simon Timmerman of Movisie. “It’s natural for them and not an issue. They don’t find it very interesting to put a label on it.”
–
–
role models
How come? Rainbow families, for example with two fathers or two mothers, have become more common. In addition, those families now also have teenage children. In addition, mandatory information in schools also plays a role, says Timmerman.
Role models are also important, for example of infuencers on social media. YouTuber Nikkie de Jager, NikkieTutorials, came out as transgender last year:
–
–
So many positive sounds, but things are not always going well. Timmerman says that there is still a large proportion of young people who do not experience the freedom to be themselves. Acceptance is lagging behind, especially in practical education, at MBO and VMBO. And the same goes for religious schools.
–
–
Earlier out of the closet
In 2005, boys came out on average when they were 17 years and 10 months old. In 2017, that had dropped to 17 years and 2 months. In the same period, the age of girls decreased from 16 years and 3 months to 16 years and 1 month.
–
–
Mishandeling Frederique
Last week there was also the abuse of 14-year-old Frédérique in Amstelveen. She was beaten up by a peer for not wanting to say whether she is a boy or a girl. Her father told about it this week. He spoke of his daughter with the words ‘her’, ‘she’ and ‘she’, which is why we use those words.
The assault caused a lot of outrage. Frédérique was overloaded with packages. According to researcher Timmerman, this is a positive signal. “A large part of society says: we do not accept this. Ten or fifteen years ago, that indignation would have been less.”
–
–
Adjective
During Pride and the rainbow flag goes out. That is no longer always the one with six colored stripes. According to some, the rainbow flag is no longer a good symbol for the entire LGBTI community. That’s why you see more and more this new flag (the Progress flag), which also has a triangle with black, brown, light blue, light pink and white. In this video we explain how it works:
–
–
