Since the foundation was established five years ago, Verhoeven has been able to lower nine flags, with the last country being Bhutan. Last year, the parliament of the South Asian country canceled the criminalization of homosexuality. During the Pride opening, Cornelis Klein, honorary consul of Bhutan, received his national flag and a Pride flag. It is Verhoeven’s wish to “fly during Pride days”.
But it can’t go fast enough for Verhoeven. “Ultimately we want to be able to lift ourselves up. I will not experience this myself again. But at this speed, even the next generation will not experience this.”
‘Acceptance can take generations’
“Every time I hear that an LGBTI person is killed, it breaks my heart,” said Iran’s Sima. She fell in love with a girl and had to flee from her husband, who threatened her because of her sexual orientation. After living as a homeless person for a while, Sima applied for asylum in the Netherlands.
“It feels like we don’t exist, like we’re not even citizens,” says Milly. She exchanged Trinidad and Tobago for Groningen. Although Trinidad and Tobago is not on the list of 71 countries, as a trans woman, Milly was constantly threatened. “I’m proud of my motherland, but at the same time I can’t go back to it. That’s painful.”
Both hope that more countries will follow Bhutan’s example. Yet the battle is far from over after the disappearance of a flag. “What you have to realize is that in addition to those 71 countries, there are dozens of countries where homosexuality is not accepted, while there is positive legislation,” said Verhoeven. “It sometimes takes two or three generations before that social acceptance is there.”
He himself experienced this firsthand when he attended the Pride parade in Amsterdam at the beginning of this month. the Georgian capital Tbilisi. “I can’t describe what I saw there. One person has been killed and Pride’s offices are completely ruined.”
According to Verhoeven, we are not there yet in the Netherlands either. “There is a lot to do here. Here too, we see a decline in acceptance of sexual and gender diversity in certain neighborhoods.”
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