Frits Huffnagel, chairman of the Amsterdam Gay Pride Foundation (AGP), will retire before the next edition. Four fellow board members are also leaving. Which reports the AGP Monday evening.
The entire board resigns because “the ongoing discussion about Huffnagel (seems to stand in the way of a festive, meaningful Pride”). By clearing the way for a new board, they want to “maintain continuity and expertise in preparation,” according to the board.
Huffnagel came under fire after statements about the refugees on the border of Turkey and Greece. The chairman was a guest on the radio program last Wednesday Speech makers. “We see a child and then think: oh how pathetic. While we do not see the father behind it, who may have committed war crimes. And a mother behind it, who facilitated it,” he said. “Those people don’t have to go here.”
Huffnagel didn’t have to leave at first
The interest group COC Amsterdam suspended the cooperation with the foundation the next day due to Huffnagel’s statements. His resignation was also demanded.
Huffnagel himself apologized. In a written statement, he said he regretted hurting his supporters. “Of course I value freedom of expression. Unfortunately, on the internet I am given positions that I do not have or did not have.” AGP board members distanced themselves from Huffnagel’s statements, but it was unanimously decided that he did not have to leave.
COC Amsterdam responded by saying that AGP did not distance itself enough from the statements. The board later said that Huffnagel could have given a more nuanced opinion and regrets “the outrage and the fact that this sharply expressed opinion was experienced as offensive”.
In the meantime, the board has resigned in its entirety. The Amsterdam Gay Pride takes place at the end of July.
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